Two weeks of the biggest races and the most payouts gets started tonight as the 32nd Annual 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank takes the green flag at the Knoxville Raceway. 110 drivers are entered into this year’s event and by Saturday night that will be paired down to 24 to race for a winner’s share of $15,000, which could double to $30,000 if the winner leads all 30 laps. But to get there, drivers have to run a preliminary night and hope to score enough points to lock into the top 20 after tomorrow night’s action. One driver that hopes to win the 360 Nationals for a second time is 2017 Champion Clint Garner. He is well aware of the financial impact of winning the 360 Nationals, and after winning it once, he would love to win it for a second time.

Garner: “At the end of the day the Nationals would mean more to me, and if you look at it the Nationals does pay more than winning the championship and it would be awesome to win that for a second time.”

Gio Scelzi is the defending champion and is entered in this year’s event. Some of the drivers that are running tonight include Scelzi, Aaron Reutzel, Zeb Wise, Jack Dover, Austin McCarl and Matt Covington. Live coverage starts tonight at 5:00 on KNIA with Live Track Side, followed by Race Night’s Live at 7:00.

Pictured: Defending 360 Nationals Champion Gio Scelzi
Photo by Ryan Northcote