Kyle Larson in a sprint car has been spectacular this year. In 13 sprint car events, he has landed on the podium in 12 of them, last night in the opening night of the 57th Annual 5 Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals, he won his ninth race of 2017 by starting on the pole and leading all 25 laps to capture night one. Larson blasted out to a commanding lead, but Donny Schatz was closing in the final laps due to heavy lapped traffic. Larson hit lapped traffic first and was able to use a picks to help stay in front of Schatz. Larson told KNIA/KRLS Sports he had to change lines midway through the race. Schatz settled for second with Greg Hodnett, who has had a great couple of weeks in Knoxville was third, Brad Sweet was fourth and Austin McCarl running the majority of the race on seven cylinders finished fifth. Schatz is your night one points leader with Sweet, Kerry Madsen, Hodnett, and Larson in the top five. The question on everyone’s mind now is, will Larson’s NASCAR owner Chip Ganassi allow him to race on Saturday night when he has a big Monster Energy Cup race on Sunday. Larson said his contract stipulates he must have one day off before any NASCAR races, but he said he might have to do some negotiating with the boss. Tonight in preliminary night two where the second half of the field will run. After tonight’s racing the 16 in points will lock into Saturday’s championship race.

A main
1. Kyle Larson
2. Donny Schatz
3. Greg Hodnett
4. Brad Sweet
5. Austin McCarl
6. Kerry Madsen
7. Shane Stewart
8. Paul McMahan
9. Christopher Bell
10. Bill Balog
11. Matt Juhl
12. Tim Shaffer
13. Danny Lasoski
14. Kevin Thomas Jr.
15. Carson Macedo
16. Parker Price-Miller
17. Dusty Zomer
18. Chase Johnson
19. Dustin Selvage
20. Jac Haudenschild
21. Matt Moro
22. Harli White
23. Jake Bubak
24. Lucas Wolfe
Lap Leader: Larson 1-25; Hard Charger: Tim Shaffer

57th annual 5-hour ENERGY Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store Event Points (as of August 9, 2017)

1. 15, Donny Schatz 492
2. 49, Brad Sweet 489
3. 2M, Kerry Madsen 487
4. 27, Greg Hodnett 472
5. 57, Kyle Larson 469
6. 2, Shane Stewart 469
7. 2KS, Austin McCarl 466
8. 4, Paul McMahan 463
9. 82, Dustin Zomer 438
10. 24W, Lucas Wolfe 438
11. 14B, Christopher Bell 437
12. 49X, Tim Shaffer 435
13. 09, Matt Juhl 429
14. 68, Chase Johnson 427
15. 1M, Danny Lasoski 424
16. 2MM, Matt Moro 416
17. 17B, Bill Balog 414
18. 71, Kevin Thomas, Jr. 414
19. 67X, Parker Price-Miller 413
20. 12, Lynton Jeffrey 407
21. 17, Jac Haudenschild 400
22. 93, Sheldon Haudenschild 400
23. 1B, Dustin Selvage 395
24. 21AU, Jordyn Brazier 388
25. 22, Rager Phillips 388
26. 3G, Carson Macedo 387
27. 9X, Jake Bubak 386
28. 56N, Davey Heskin 386
29. 20, A.J. Moeller 385
30. 17W, Harli White 380
31. 51, Joey Saldana 380
32. 5H, Cory Eliason 369
33. 70, Clint Garner 363
34. 99, Brady Bacon 363
35. 26, Tayler Malsam 338
36. 8H, Jason Kendrick 335
37. 95, Matt Covington 332
38. 4X, Dakota Hendrickson 330
39. 87, Aaron Reutzel 328
40. 3P, Sawyer Phillips 326
41. 12W, Josh Walter 309
42. 84, Scott Bogucki 309
43. 1P, Curtis Evans 306
44. 83C, Adam Cruea 302
45. 85, Chase Wanner 291
46. 39, Spencer Bayston 278
47. 1S, Logan Schuchart 269
48. 10, Tyler Bear 265