By T.J. Buffenbarger
Donny Schatz won a preliminary feature at the Knoxville Nationals for the first time in 20 years Wednesday night at the Knoxville Raceway. Schatz, from Fargo, North Dakota, passed Chase Randall in the closing stages of the feature event for the victory and the point lead for the Knoxville Nationals.
Schatz was happy to be in victory lane again at Knoxville and get his Nationals off to a winning start due to the level of competition.
” I remember I first came here we were good on the prelim nights and just couldn’t ever put together on Saturday to get the win and kind of took a little bit of emphasis off tonight,” said Schatz. “I don’t think you can leave anything on the table anymore.”
Hahn and Dustin Selvage started on the front row for the 25-lap feature event. Hahn led the first lap with Selvage and Randall in tow. Hahn pulled away while Randall and Madsen dropped Selvage back to fourth.
Traffic came into play on lap 11 as Hahn started overtaking traffic, allowing Randall to close back in. Once the traffic became heavier Hahn opened his lead on lap 13. Further back in the field Schatz, who started seventh, moved up to fourth and started to catch the lead trio on lap 14.
As Schatz closed in, Randall was able to close on Hahn for the lead in turns one and two but could not make the pass.
Just as Randall was closing on Hahn the red flag appeared for a scary crash on lap 17 by Justin Peck, who went over Sheldon Haudenschild’s right rear wheel, slamming hard on the left side of the car on the front stretch fence. Peck climbed from the car under his own power walking to the ambulance.
After the restart Randall immediately challenged Hahn for the lead, taking the lead with a slide job in turn four. One lap later Schatz took second from Hahn and closed in on Randall to challenge for the lead. Randall was able to hold off Schatz’s advances, swapping the lead until three to go when Schatz took the lead.
Schatz drove away from the field over the final three laps for the victory. Randall held on for second while Sheldon Haudenschild made a late charge to round out the podium. Kerry Madsen and Hahn rounded out the top five.
Schatz felt afterwards he as able to take advantage of his car getting better in the feature by being patient.
“I think when the tire cycled through the heat a little bit, the better car kind of shines,” said Schatz. “I could make the bottom work and could make the middle work. It was just tricky and you had to be patient and I knew I was in a good spot.”
David Gravel was the fastest qualifier over the 52-car field. In his heat race Gravel crashed into the turn four wall on the opening lap and was unable to make repairs for the restart. Gravel rallied to win the C-Main, but his run through the alphabet ended after finishing 11th in the B-Main.
Heat race events were won by Brady Bacon, Sheldon Haudenschild, Justin Henderson, Sye Lynch, and Carson McCarl. Giovanni Scelzi won the B-Main.
62nd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s
BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, Iowa
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Qualifying
1. 2-David Gravel, 15.468[34]
2. 13-Justin Peck, 15.488[19]
3. 14-Corey Day, 15.537[7]
4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 15.601[15]
5. 4W-Jamie Ball, 15.636[2]
6. 83-James McFadden, 15.638[35]
7. 10L-Scott Bogucki, 15.675[27]
8. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.687[26]
9. 19-Brent Marks, 15.722[5]
10. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.729[3]
11. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.754[18]
12. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 15.759[1]
13. 9-Kasey Kahne, 15.760[9]
14. 55-Kerry Madsen, 15.771[23]
15. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 15.801[52]
16. 39M-Justin Sanders, 15.837[33]
17. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 15.841[8]
18. 26-Zeb Wise, 15.872[43]
19. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 15.879[48]
20. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 15.885[13]
21. 2KS-Chase Randall, 15.889[30]
22. 7W-Dustin Selvage, 15.894[17]
23. 16-Brooke Tatnell, 15.949[6]
24. 24T-Christopher Thram, 15.961[31]
25. 1C-Brenham Crouch, 15.967[22]
26. 55T-McKenna Haase, 15.979[20]
27. 1A-Chase Dietz, 16.012[16]
28. 52-Blake Hahn, 16.023[44]
29. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.032[37]
30. 22-Riley Goodno, 16.058[12]
31. 1X-Jake Bubak, 16.068[4]
32. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.078[47]
33. 21T-Cole Macedo, 16.099[49]
34. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer, 16.130[28]
35. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 16.134[14]
36. 21H-Brady Bacon, 16.145[40]
37. 7S-Robbie Price, 16.161[25]
38. 1-Justin Henderson, 16.181[50]
39. 1M-Don Droud Jr, 16.183[36]
40. 27-Carson McCarl, 16.217[24]
41. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.282[38]
42. 70-Kraig Kinser, 16.294[29]
43. 2M-Davey Heskin, 16.319[41]
44. 95-Matt Covington, 16.362[42]
45. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 16.446[39]
46. 17X-Terry McCarl, 16.535[10]
47. 44-Chris Martin, 16.552[51]
48. 24H-Kade Higday, 16.597[46]
49. 15JR-Cole Mincer, 16.689[11]
50. 2KK-Kevin Ingle, 16.804[45]
51. 37-Ayden Gatewood, 16.866[21]
52. 9H-Landon Hansen, 16.882[32]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 21H-Brady Bacon[1]
2. 1X-Jake Bubak[2]
3. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]
4. 2KS-Chase Randall[4]
5. 39M-Justin Sanders[5]
6. 83-James McFadden[7]
7. 17X-Terry McCarl[10]
8. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]
9. 55T-McKenna Haase[3]
10. 2-David Gravel[8]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[2]
2. 13-Justin Peck[8]
3. 7S-Robbie Price[1]
4. 7W-Dustin Selvage[4]
5. 10L-Scott Bogucki[7]
6. 50YR-JJ Hickle[5]
7. 1A-Chase Dietz[3]
8. 70-Kraig Kinser[9]
9. 44-Chris Martin[10]
10. 8-Aaron Reutzel[6]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 1-Justin Henderson[1]
2. 21T-Cole Macedo[2]
3. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]
4. 52-Blake Hahn[3]
5. 14-Corey Day[8]
6. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey[7]
7. 16-Brooke Tatnell[4]
8. 26-Zeb Wise[5]
9. 24H-Kade Higday[10]
10. 2M-Davey Heskin[9]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps)
1. 42-Sye Lynch[3]
2. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[2]
3. 1M-Don Droud Jr[1]
4. 55-Kerry Madsen[6]
5. 19-Brent Marks[7]
6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[5]
7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[8]
8. 95-Matt Covington[9]
9. 24T-Christopher Thram[4]
10. 15JR-Cole Mincer[10]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (10 Laps)
1. 27-Carson McCarl[1]
2. 15-Donny Schatz[7]
3. 83T-Tanner Carrick[2]
4. 22-Riley Goodno[3]
5. 1C-Brenham Crouch[4]
6. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[6]
7. 4W-Jamie Ball[8]
8. 49X-Tim Shaffer[5]
9. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[9]
10. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[10]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 2-David Gravel[1]
2. 24T-Christopher Thram[3]
3. 24H-Kade Higday[8]
4. 55T-McKenna Haase[4]
5. 2KK-Kevin Ingle[10]
6. 9H-Landon Hansen[12]
7. 37-Ayden Gatewood[11]
8. 44-Chris Martin[7]
9. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[6]
10. 8-Aaron Reutzel[2]
11. 2M-Davey Heskin[5]
12. 15JR-Cole Mincer[9]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]
2. 14-Corey Day[1]
3. 83-James McFadden[4]
4. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[8]
5. 4W-Jamie Ball[3]
6. 19-Brent Marks[7]
7. 10L-Scott Bogucki[5]
8. 26-Zeb Wise[11]
9. 39M-Justin Sanders[9]
10. 16-Brooke Tatnell[14]
11. 2-David Gravel[21]
12. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[17]
13. 50YR-JJ Hickle[10]
14. 9P-Parker Price Miller[12]
15. 95-Matt Covington[19]
16. 24T-Christopher Thram[22]
17. 70-Kraig Kinser[18]
18. 49X-Tim Shaffer[13]
19. 55T-McKenna Haase[24]
20. 24H-Kade Higday[23]
21. 1A-Chase Dietz[16]
22. 17X-Terry McCarl[20]
23. 2K-Lynton Jeffrey[6]
24. 1C-Brenham Crouch[15]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz[7]
2. 2KS-Chase Randall[3]
3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[12]
4. 55-Kerry Madsen[4]
5. 52-Blake Hahn[1]
6. 42-Sye Lynch[9]
7. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg[6]
8. 7W-Dustin Selvage[2]
9. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[14]
10. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[21]
11. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[24]
12. 21H-Brady Bacon[16]
13. 9-Kasey Kahne[5]
14. 14-Corey Day[22]
15. 83-James McFadden[23]
16. 21T-Cole Macedo[13]
17. 1-Justin Henderson[18]
18. 22-Riley Goodno[10]
19. 1X-Jake Bubak[11]
20. 1M-Don Droud Jr[19]
21. 7S-Robbie Price[17]
22. 27-Carson McCarl[20]
23. 83T-Tanner Carrick[15]
24. 13-Justin Peck[8]
Unofficial Points after Night #1
| Pos | Car # | Driver | Points |
| 1 | 15 | Donny Schatz | 479 |
| 2 | 39 | Hunter Schuerenberg | 462 |
| 3 | 55 | Kerry Madsen | 459 |
| 4 | 18 | Gio Scelzi | 458 |
| 5 | 14 | Corey Day | 458 |
| 6 | 2KS | Chase Randall | 449 |
| 7 | 13 | Justin Peck | 449 |
| 8 | 83 | James McFadden | 447 |
| 9 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | 446 |
| 10 | 7TAZ | Tasker Phillips | 437 |
| 11 | 7W | Dustin Selvage | 435 |
| 12 | 17 | Sheldon Haudenschild | 434 |
| 13 | 42 | Sye Lynch | 434 |
| 14 | 52 | Blake Hahn | 429 |
| 15 | 4W | Jamie Ball | 416 |
| 16 | 7TW | Brandon Wimmer | 415 |
| 17 | 10L | Scott Bogucki | 414 |
| 18 | 19 | Brent Marks | 412 |
| 19 | 21H | Brady Bacon | 408 |
| 20 | 21T | Cole Macedo | 403 |
| 21 | 2 | David Gravel | 403 |
| 22 | 1X | Jake Bubak | 401 |
| 23 | 22 | Riley Goodno | 399 |
| 24 | 1 | Justin Henderson | 394 |
| 25 | 39M | Justin Sanders | 392 |
| 26 | 7S | Robbie Price | 382 |
| 27 | 83T | Tanner Carrick | 382 |
| 28 | 26 | Zeb Wise | 381 |
| 29 | 1M | Don Droud Jr. | 380 |
| 30 | 27 | Carson McCarl | 380 |
| 31 | 50YR | JJ Hickle | 379 |
| 32 | 2K | Lynton Jeffrey | 377 |
| 33 | 9P | Parker Price-Miller | 373 |
| 34 | 16 | Brooke Tatnell | 370 |
| 35 | 49X | Tim Shaffer | 357 |
| 36 | 24T | Christopher Thram | 350 |
| 37 | 1C | Brenham Crouch | 344 |
| 38 | 55T | McKenna Haase | 340 |
| 39 | 1A | Chase Dietz | 340 |
| 40 | 8 | Aaron Reutzel | 333 |
| 41 | 91 | Kyle Reinhardt | 327 |
| 42 | 95 | Matt Covington | 315 |
| 43 | 70 | Kraig Kinser | 315 |
| 44 | 17X | Terry McCarl | 300 |
| 45 | 24H | Kade Higday | 294 |
| 46 | 13JT | Mark Dobmeier | 272 |
| 47 | 44 | Chris Martin | 270 |
| 48 | 2M | Davey Heskin | 269 |
| 49 | 2KK | Kevin Ingle | 267 |
| 50 | 15JR | Cole Mincer | 255 |
| 51 | 37 | Ayden Gatewood | 238 |
| 52 | 9H | Landon Hansen | 235 |