By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, IA (August 8, 2024) — Kyle Larson started his quest for a third NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s title on Thursday by winning the feature on Toyota Qualifying Night with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at Knoxville Raceway.
Larson was able to take advantage of slower traffic to take the lead from Abreu coming to the white flag. Abreu and Carson Macedo finishing second and third gave California drivers a sweep of the podium.
Lapped traffic was a major factor during the non-stop main event, which ended up giving Larson an assist while getting the lead away from Abreu.
“It was difficult because as we were catching them, I thought Carson and I both were catching the lead guys and they were racing, but it seemed like when Rico got to the lead he was still kind of committed to running up the racetrack,” said Larson about chasing Abreu through traffic. I thought either one of us might snooker him. As I got by Carson, I think Rico moved down and one and two and was even following your lap cars down there. I didn’t think I could have enough time to get by him, because I felt like the laps were winding down. Then going into one he was close enough to the lapper where he couldn’t quite follow him so I was just going to try and run the bottom and hoped that something could work out. Then the lapper hit the berm and, like, wheeled across the center, and I think, parked it right in front of him. That was what sealed the deal for me.”
Bill Balog and Abreu started on the front row for the 25-lap main event. Balog was able to take the lead at the start Larson quickly moved up from sixth starting position to get by Brady Bacon for fourth on lap three.
Up front Balog started to encounter slower traffic and ended up boxed in on lap nine between a trio of cars racing for position. This caused Balog’s 1.150 second advantage to dissipate, putting Abreu on his back bumper. Balog maintained the lead by splitting a pair of lapped cars, but two laps later Abreu was able to slide by to take the lead.
One lap later Macedo was able to slip past Balog to take second and started pursuing Abreu.
By lap 15 Larson had moved his way up into third around Balog and quickly closed on the lead duo. Abreu had kept a comfortable lead until a slower car forced Abreu onto the berm in turn one and shot up the racetrack. This allowed Macedo to close on his back bumper for the lead but could not make the pass.
Macedo then found himself racing three wide around a lapped car for the second position. Larson took the spot and started to pressure Abreu, but Abreu was up for the challenge working lapped traffic to maintain his advantage.
With two laps to go Larson got under Abreu for the lead just as Danny Sams III shot up the racetrack in turn two. Abreu had to take evasive action while Larson drove into the lead. From there Larson went on to win over Abreu, Macedo, Courtney, and Balog.
Daryn Pittman was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 15.594 seconds and won his heat race. Hunter Schuerenberg, Tasker Phillips, Carson Macedo, and Ayrton Gennetten also won heat race events. Sye Lynch won the C-Main while Dusty Zomer won the B-Main.
63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s
Toyota Qualifying Night #2
World of Outlaw NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Knoxville Raceway
Knoxville, Iowa
Thursday, August 8, 2024
Qualifying
1. 69K-Daryn Pittman, 15.594[8]
2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.926[14]
3. 57-Kyle Larson, 15.954[1]
4. 21-Brian Brown, 15.966[39]
5. 33W-Cap Henry, 15.996[5]
6. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 16.017[4]
7. 8-Cory Eliason, 16.024[3]
8. 21H-Brady Bacon, 16.067[6]
9. 41-Carson Macedo, 16.072[30]
10. 1K-Kelby Watt, 16.085[2]
11. 83SR-James McFadden, 16.092[10]
12. 24R-Rico Abreu, 16.098[28]
13. 35-Zach Hampton, 16.103[11]
14. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.108[16]
15. 17B-Bill Balog, 16.114[35]
16. 49-Brad Sweet, 16.145[22]
17. 88-Austin McCarl, 16.150[23]
18. 1C-Brenham Crouch, 16.167[12]
19. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.221[50]
20. 74-Xavier Doney, 16.223[7]
21. 5X-Justin Henderson, 16.228[34]
22. 5-Spencer Bayston, 16.254[29]
23. 40-Clint Garner, 16.264[15]
24. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 16.270[9]
25. 27A-Emerson Axsom, 16.273[47]
26. 24D-Danny Sams III, 16.298[17]
27. 88T-Tanner Thorson, 16.354[21]
28. 26-Zeb Wise, 16.384[46]
29. 55C-Chris Windom, 16.386[25]
30. 36-Jason Martin, 16.407[13]
31. 6-Robbie Price, 16.419[20]
32. 19S-Hunter Schuerenberg, 16.448[54]
33. 2M-Ryan Giles, 16.450[18]
34. 58-Kaleb Johnson, 16.489[44]
35. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 16.492[49]
36. 7S-Landon Crawley, 16.498[38]
37. 5T-Ryan Timms, 16.499[37]
38. 1D-Tasker Phillips, 16.530[31]
39. 25-Daison Pursley, 16.574[27]
40. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten, 16.601[33]
41. 22X-JJ Hickle, 16.617[43]
42. 24-Terry McCarl, 16.639[24]
43. 27B-Jake Bubak, 16.642[51]
44. 3-Tim Kaeding, 16.665[42]
45. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.716[41]
46. 18R-Ryan Roberts, 16.799[36]
47. 3N-Jake Neuman, 16.802[32]
48. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 16.819[53]
49. 27W-Weston Olson, 16.951[26]
50. 53-Jessie Attard, 16.992[48]
51. 95-Tyler Drueke, 16.998[19]
52. 14T-Brooke Tatnell, 17.035[52]
53. 28-Joe Perry, 18.757[40]
54. 9H-Landon Hansen NT [45]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps)
1. 69K-Daryn Pittman[8]
2. 7S-Landon Crawley[1]
3. 49-Brad Sweet[5]
4. 24D-Danny Sams III[3]
5. 83SR-James McFadden[6]
6. 5X-Justin Henderson[4]
7. 3J-Dusty Zomer[7]
8. 22X-JJ Hickle[9]
9. 6-Robbie Price[2]
10. 18R-Ryan Roberts[10]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Milton Hershey School Heat Race #2 (10 Laps)
1. 19S-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]
2. 5T-Ryan Timms[1]
3. 24R-Rico Abreu[6]
4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]
5. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]
6. 88T-Tanner Thorson[3]
7. 8-Cory Eliason[7]
8. 88-Austin McCarl[5]
9. 3N-Jake Neuman[10]
10. 24-Terry McCarl[9]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps)
1. 1D-Tasker Phillips[1]
2. 26-Zeb Wise[3]
3. 57-Kyle Larson[8]
4. 21H-Brady Bacon[7]
5. 1C-Brenham Crouch[5]
6. 27B-Jake Bubak[9]
7. 35-Zach Hampton[6]
8. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[10]
9. 40-Clint Garner[4]
DNS: 2M-Ryan Giles
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps)
1. 41-Carson Macedo[7]
2. 25-Daison Pursley[1]
3. 58-Kaleb Johnson[2]
4. 21-Brian Brown[8]
5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]
6. 55C-Chris Windom[3]
7. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[4]
8. 27W-Weston Olson[10]
9. 3-Tim Kaeding[9]
DNS: 42-Sye Lynch
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (10 Laps)
1. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten[1]
2. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[2]
3. 17B-Bill Balog[6]
4. 36-Jason Martin[3]
5. 27A-Emerson Axsom[4]
6. 33W-Cap Henry[8]
7. 1K-Kelby Watt[7]
8. 74-Xavier Doney[5]
9. 53-Jessie Attard[10]
10. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 42-Sye Lynch[1]
2. 40-Clint Garner[2]
3. 6-Robbie Price[3]
4. 3-Tim Kaeding[6]
5. 24-Terry McCarl[5]
6. 14T-Brooke Tatnell[12]
7. 95-Tyler Drueke[11]
8. 53-Jessie Attard[10]
9. 3N-Jake Neuman[9]
10. 28-Joe Perry[13]
11. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[7]
DNS: 2M-Ryan Giles
DNS: 18R-Ryan Roberts
DNS: 9H-Landon Hansen
(First four finishers transferred to the B-Main)
B Main (12 Laps)
1. 3J-Dusty Zomer[2]
2. 33W-Cap Henry[1]
3. 83SR-James McFadden[5]
4. 8-Cory Eliason[3]
5. 35-Zach Hampton[6]
6. 5-Spencer Bayston[12]
7. 88-Austin McCarl[7]
8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]
9. 1K-Kelby Watt[4]
10. 5X-Justin Henderson[11]
11. 55C-Chris Windom[16]
12. 27A-Emerson Axsom[14]
13. 1C-Brenham Crouch[8]
14. 27B-Jake Bubak[18]
15. 88T-Tanner Thorson[15]
16. 3-Tim Kaeding[24]
17. 49J-Josh Schneiderman[13]
18. 74-Xavier Doney[10]
19. 22X-JJ Hickle[17]
20. 42-Sye Lynch[21]
21. 6-Robbie Price[23]
22. 40-Clint Garner[22]
23. 27W-Weston Olson[20]
24. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[19]
(First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson[6]
2. 24R-Rico Abreu[2]
3. 41-Carson Macedo[3]
4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]
5. 17B-Bill Balog[1]
6. 69K-Daryn Pittman[8]
7. 49-Brad Sweet[9]
8. 21H-Brady Bacon[4]
9. 26-Zeb Wise[11]
10. 21-Brian Brown[5]
11. 58-Kaleb Johnson[14]
12. 19S-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]
13. 83SR-James McFadden[23]
14. 8-Cory Eliason[24]
15. 5T-Ryan Timms[17]
16. 1D-Tasker Phillips[18]
17. 24D-Danny Sams III[10]
18. 36-Jason Martin[12]
19. 3J-Dusty Zomer[21]
20. 7S-Landon Crawley[16]
21. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten[20]
22. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[15]
23. 33W-Cap Henry[22]
24. 25-Daison Pursley[19]