By T.J. Buffenbarger
KNOXVILLE, IA (August 8, 2025) — All the preliminary nights are in the books and the A through E mains are set for Saturday’s finale of the 64th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s. Here are five takeaways from the Friday before we crown a Knoxville Nationals champion (hopefully) on Saturday.
I appreciate how talented driver Pittman is more since he stopped full time racing than I did when he was pounding up and down the road with the World of Outlaws. I always respected his ability, but I’m not sure if I truly appreciated how much upside Pitman has until he performed like this with limited starts. There were signs of it through his sprint car performance and jumping into a midget for infrequent starts with success, but never fully registered.
This year Pitman took on driving the Lundstra #3 entry. Early performances were not exactly noteworthy. Noted Pennsylvania crew chief Lee Stauffer was brought in for the duration of the Knoxville events. Stauffer had not even seen the car until coming out here.
After some early struggles Pittman was crafty in route to making another Knoxville Nationals A-Main. As someone who has always believed drivers needed to race with the best to carry that level of speed, Pittman is defying that logic every time he jumps in a sprint car recently.
Kofoid’s Friday performance may have been the best comeback during the 2025 Knoxville Nationals. After a disappointing start to their Nationals Kofoid missed the transfer in the heat race. This would have sunk most team’s Knoxville Nationals.
Instead Kofoid made an incredible drive through the feature from 19th to second position. Much like Gravel, Kofoid could be primed to make a run through the field on Saturday night.
Cole Macedo’s night was not as eventful as Kofoid’s but showed flashes of some maturity gained from racing on the road putting in solid performances in qualifying, the heat race, and the main event, moving up from eighth starting position to finish third.
All three drivers of the drivers listed above Ohio had up and down moments that important parts of preparing them for being on the sport’s biggest stage. Fans in that area got to see some important, formative years in all three driver’s careers. Now they get to see Carson Macedo starting on the pole position with a chance to win, Kofoid’s amazing comeback on Friday, and Cole Macedo maturing a driver before out eyes on the road, exceeding expectations at times like Friday at Knoxville.
They may not have Ohio residency, but those fans should take pride that their sprint car scene created an important opportunity to elevate those driver’s careers.
• David Gravel was back in prime form on Friday night at the Knoxville Nationals in route to the Hard Knox feature victory. Last year crossing paths with Gravel on Saturday I didn’t get the vibe of someone that felt they were going to make a big run through the field (even though he moved forward from 19th to 12th). This year during and after the post-race press conference I get the impression we could be in for an entertaining charge from near the tail of the main event on Saturday from Gravel.
Based on what we saw on Friday I anticipate Gravel passing a lot of cars in 50-laps. While I don’t think he’ll win, it has potential to be one of the most entertaining things we will get to see at this year’s Nationals.
• While Donny Schatz’s streak of A-Main stars could end at 26 in a row tomorrow. Schatz made a valiant drive through the field on Friday only to finish one spot out of locking into Saturday’s A-Main but now has to face starting 11th in the B-Main.
Based on Schatz’s performance on Friday that extending that A-Main streak is still a possibility. The caliber of driver that has won the Knoxville Nationals 11 times will not be content just extending a streak of making the finale, it’s clear it means something the way Schatz was charging through the field on Friday.
With more starts in a sprint car in the behind than in front of him, we as onlookers need to appreciate efforts like Schatz’s on Friday. With drivers walking away from the sport at a younger than most of their contemporaries, you never know when one of those charges like Schatz going from 15th to 5th a the biggest event in the sport will happen again.
• The decision to leave Kerry Madsen on the racetrack during Friday night’s feature event perplexed me. Madsen clearly had a mechanical issue that caused his car to not take off during the start. Because Madsen kept going, the blend rule was applied to the situation and Madsen once again caused an issue that nearly stacked up the entire field.
Most of the regional series I cover would never let that happen. An issue like a car not being able to take off to that extreme level typically does not right itself. Madsen was just doing exactly what he should have been, trying to hang in that feature to get every position possible. In those situations, especially at a track like Knoxville, that decision sometimes must be taken out of the driver’s hands.
Add to it Anthony Macri being sent to the tail earlier in the race while remaining under power while causing a yellow flag, and I was even more perplexed. I did reach out to officials to get an explanation but did not have one as of the posting of this article. Hopefully I can get an explanation that makes more sense, but that combinations of decisions seemed perplexing to me.