Donny Schatz may or may not have been desperate, but he did what he had to and raced his way into the championship A-Main of the 63rd Nos Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals by winning the Hard Knox Night as heard live on KNIA. Schatz found himself, like 79 other drivers, running the Friday show due to a less than stellar performance in his preliminary. He and Logan Schuchart traded the lead the first two laps, then Schatz led the rest of the way surviving several yellow and red flag periods. Schatz said in victory lane, it was not the way he wanted to get into the A-Main, but he will take it any way he can.

Schatz : “We’re going to have to be better than what we have been. You first have to get into the show, I wish we weren’t racing, but when you are not very good, you need laps, you have to figure out what you’re not doing.”

Schuchart was 2nd, Justin Henderson was 3rd and Emerson Axsom placed 4th, those four will automatically transfer to the last four starting positions in tonight’s championship A-Main. Live coverage is on KNIA starting with Live Track Side at 5:00 and Race Nights Live at 7:00.

63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Toyota Qualifying Night #2 Results

Time Trial Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (9), 15.374; 2. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (7), 15.434; 3. 5X, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (28), 15.611; 4. 2X, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (16), 15.632; 5. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (1), 15.657; 6. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (23), 15.678; 7. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (13), 15.703; 8. 1C, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (2), 15.741; 9. 58, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (31), 15.862; 10. 14J, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (3), 15.874; 11. 5, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (5), 15.894; 12. 22X, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (19), 15.897; 13. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (34), 15.903; 14. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (26), 15.935; 15. 83JR, Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (22), 15.943; 16. 55C, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (38), 15.992; 17. 13JT, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (21), 15.996; 18. 24D, Danny Sams III, North Port, FL (8), 16.006; 19. 6B, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (10), 16.039; 20. 6, Robbie Price, Cobble Hill, BC, Can. (15), 16.048; 21. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (27), 16.054; 22. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (40), 16.059; 23. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (30), 16.075; 24. 7S, Landon Crawley, Benton, AR (14), 16.081; 25. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (11), 16.085; 26. 36, Jason Martin, Liberal`, KS (4), 16.108; 27. 23L, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (37), 16.116; 28. 1D, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (39), 16.133; 29. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (36), 16.166; 30. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (17), 16.184; 31. 3N, Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (18), 16.206; 32. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (29), 16.209; 33. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (20), 16.224; 34. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (32), 16.263; 35. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (33), 16.295; 36. 11N, Kasey Jedrezek, Lagrange, OH (25), 16.332; 37. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (24), 16.333; 38. 1, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (12), 16.335; 39. 27W, Weston Olson, Warren, MN (6), 16.601; 40. 23M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (35), 16.694

Time Trial Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (8), 15.740; 2. 99, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (1), 15.901; 3. 27A, Emerson Axsom, Franklin, IN (36), 15.940; 4. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (6), 15.992; 5. 19S, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (31), 16.017; 6. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (2), 16.028; 7. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (38), 16.055; 8. 21T, Cole Macedo, Lemoore, CA (16), 16.057; 9. 17GP, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (39), 16.076; 10. 3G, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (10), 16.089; 11. 70, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (7), 16.130; 12. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (12), 16.159; 13. 2M, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (22), 16.165; 14. 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (37), 16.168; 15. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (24), 16.219; 16. 25, Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (4), 16.219; 17. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (14), 16.221; 18. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (27), 16.231; 19. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (23), 16.266; 20. 6W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (3), 16.288; 21. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (33), 16.302; 22. 3, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (29), 16.331; 23. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (30), 16.386; 24. 88T, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (28), 16.390; 25. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (34), 16.420; 26. 45X, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS (25), 16.459; 27. 74, Xavier Doney, Odessa, MO (13), 16.461; 28. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (19), 16.486; 29. J2, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (15), 16.490; 30. 19H, Joel Myers Jr., Sebastopol, CA (9), 16.503; 31. 10V, Brian Paulus, Six Mile, SC (26), 16.531; 32. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (35), 16.566; 33. 53, Jessie Attard, Landilo, NSW, Aust. (11), 16.638; 34. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (21), 16.724; 35. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (17), 16.730; 36. 5T, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (20), 16.735; 37. 95, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (32), 16.889; 38. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (5), 17.016; 39. 28, Joe Perry, Billings, MT (18), 17.595

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:10.9: 1. Tanner Holmes (2); 2. Lynton Jeffrey (3); 3. Donny Schatz (4) / 4. Chris Windom (6); 5. Brandon Wimmer (7); 6. Kyle Reinhardt (10); 7. Jason Martin (9); 8. Kelby Watt (11); 9. Kasey Jedrezek (12); 10. Terry McCarl (5); 11. McKenna Haase (8); DQ (No Report to Scales) 12. Jack Dover (1)

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.6: 1. Austin McCarl (4); 2. Brenham Crouch (2); 3. Spencer Bayston (1) / 4. Aaron Reutzel (3); 5. Sye Lynch (5); 6. Mark Dobmeier (6); 7. Landon Crawley (8); 8. Sawyer Phillips (7); 9. Chris Martin (11); 10. Ryan Roberts (12); 11. Jimmy Light (9); 12. Gage Pulkrabek (10)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Kaleb Johnson (2); 2. Justin Henderson (4); 3. Buddy Kofoid (5) / 4. JJ Hickle (1); 5. Jamie Ball (3); 6. Tasker Phillips (9); 7. Jake Bubak (8); 8. Danny Sams III (6); 9. Clint Garner (7); 10. Jake Neuman (10); 11. Cole Mincer (11); 12. Sammy Swindell (12)

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.5: 1. Kasey Kahne (3); 2. Logan Schuchart (4); 3. Blake Hahn (2) / 4. Ayrton Gennetten (1); 5. Tim Kaeding (8); 6. Daison Pursley (6); 7. Don Droud Jr. (10); 8. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9); 9. Brooke Tatnell (12); 10. Riley Goodno (7); 11. Ryan Giles (5); 12. Brian Paulus (11)

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.4: 1. Cole Macedo (2); 2. Hunter Schuerenberg (3); 3. Skylar Gee (4) / 4. Parker Price-Miller (5); 5. Kraig Kinser (1); 6. Zach Hampton (6); 7. Carson McCarl (8); 8. Dustin Selvage (7); 9. Jace Park (9); 10. John Carney II (10); 11. Kevin Ingle (11); 12. Jordan Goldesberry (12)

Heat six (started), 8 Laps, 2:13.0: 1. Cale Thomas (2); 2. Christopher Thram (1); 3. Emerson Axsom (4); 4. Danny Dietrich (3); 5. Zeb Wise (6); 6. Tim Shaffer (5); 7. Kerry Madsen (7); 8. Xavier Doney (9); 9. Tanner Thorson (8); 10. Ryan Timms (12); 11. Joel Myers Jr. (10); 12. Jessie Attard (11)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:52.0: 1. Ryan Timms (4); 2. Riley Goodno (1); 3. Ryan Roberts (2); 4. Jake Neuman (3); 5. Ryan Giles (6); 6. Jack Dover (9); 7. Joel Myers Jr. (10); 8. Cole Mincer (7); 9. Jimmy Light (5); 10. Brian Paulus (12); 11. Tyler Drueke (17); 12. Jessie Attard (16) / 13. Sammy Swindell (13); 14. Lance Moss (18); 15. Jordan Goldesberry (14); 16. Weston Olson (15); 17. Landon Hansen (19); 18. Joe Perry (20); 19. Kevin Ingle (8); 20. Gage Pulkrabek (11) DNS – Terry McCarl, John Carney II, McKenna Haase, Josh Schneiderman, Robbie Price

B main one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Chris Windom (1); 2. Sye Lynch (4); 3. JJ Hickle (2); 4. Brandon Wimmer (3); 5. Kyle Reinhardt (6); 6. Jason Martin (9); 7. Jamie Ball (5); 8. Jake Bubak (11); 9. Ryan Timms (18); 10. Landon Crawley (10); 11. Mark Dobmeier (7); 12. Danny Sams III (14); 13. Chris Martin (16); 14. Kelby Watt (12); 15. Ryan Roberts (19); 16. Kasey Jedrezek (15); 17. Ryan Giles (20); 18. Tyler Drueke (23); 19. Sawyer Phillips (13); 20. Joel Myers Jr. (21); 21. Jimmy Light (22); 22. Tasker Phillips (8); 23. Clint Garner (17) DNS – Aaron Reutzel

B main two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Ayrton Gennetten (1); 2. Parker Price-Miller (2); 3. Danny Dietrich (3); 4. Zeb Wise (6); 5. Tim Kaeding (4); 6. Zach Hampton (8); 7. Kerry Madsen (12); 8. Kraig Kinser (5); 9. Don Droud Jr. (10); 10. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (13); 11. Riley Goodno (19); 12. Jace Park (17); 13. Xavier Doney (15); 14. Dustin Selvage (14); 15. Brooke Tatnell (16); 16. Jessie Attard (24); 17. Jack Dover (21); 18. Carson McCarl (11); 19. Tanner Thorson (18); 20. Cole Mincer (22); 21. Jake Neuman (20); 22. Tim Shaffer (9); 23. Brian Paulus (23); 24. Daison Pursley (7)

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (1); 2. Logan Schuchart (2); 3. Justin Henderson (5); 4. Emerson Axsom (6); 5. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 6. Cole Macedo (14); 7. Spencer Bayston (15); 8. Kaleb Johnson (13); 9. Buddy Kofoid (17); 10. Tanner Holmes (9); 11. Skylar Gee (4); 12. Parker Price-Miller (22); 13. Hunter Schuerenberg (10); 14. Kasey Kahne (8); 15. Danny Dietrich (24); 16. Brenham Crouch (11); 17. Ayrton Gennetten (20); 18. Chris Windom (19); 19. JJ Hickle (23); 20. Cale Thomas (16); 21. Christopher Thram (18); 22. Sye Lynch (21); 23. Blake Hahn (12); 24. Austin McCarl (3). Lap Leaders: Schatz 1, Schuchart 2, Schatz 3-25. Hard-charger: Price-Miller.

Saturday Lineups

A Main (50 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson; 2. 69K-Daryn Pittman; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney; 4. 41-Carson Macedo; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi; 6. 24R-Rico Abreu; 7. 21-Brian Brown; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri; 9. 21H-Brady Bacon; 10. 10-Scott Bogucki; 11. 14-Corey Day; 12. 19-Brent Marks; 13. 17B-Bill Balog; 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild; 15. 2KS-Chase Randall; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen; 17. B Main Transfer #1 18. B Main Transfer #2 19. B Main Transfer #3 20. B Main Transfer #4 21. Donny Schatz 22. Logan Schuchart 23. Justin Henderson 24. Emerson Axsom

B Main (22 Laps): 1. 49-Brad Sweet; 2. 13-Justin Peck; 3. 83SR-James McFadden; 4. 8-Cory Eliason; 5. 09-Matt Juhl; 6. 2-David Gravel; 7. 23-Garet Williamson; 8. 3J-Dusty Zomer; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss; 10. 33W-Cap Henry; 11. 2X-Lynton Jeffrey; 12. 21T-Cole Macedo; 13. 5-Spencer Bayston; 14. 58-Kaleb Johnson; 15. 83JR-Michael Kofoid; 16. 18T-Tanner Holmes; 17. 99-Skylar Gee; 18. 9P-Parker Price Miller; 19. 19S-Hunter Schuerenberg; 20. 9-Kasey Kahne

C Main (15 Laps): 1. 48-Danny Dietrich; 2. 1C-Brenham Crouch; 3. 3G-Ayrton Gennetten; 4. 55C-Chris Windom; 5. 22X-JJ Hickle; 6. 17GP-Cale Thomas; 7. 24T-Christopher Thram; 8. 42-Sye Lynch; 9. 52-Blake Hahn; 10. 88-Austin McCarl; 11. 6B-Brandon Wimmer; 12. 26-Zeb Wise; 13. 91-Kyle Reinhardt; 14. 3-Tim Kaeding; 15. 36-Jason Martin; 16. 35-Zach Hampton; 17. 4W-Jamie Ball; 18. 55-Kerry Madsen; 19. 27B-Jake Bubak; 20. 70-Kraig Kinser

D Main (12 Laps): 1. 5T-Ryan Timms; 2. 1M-Don Droud Jr; 3. 7S-Landon Crawley; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr; 5. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier; 6. 22-Riley Goodno; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III; 8. 45X-Jace Park; 9. 44-Chris Martin; 10. 74-Xavier Doney; 11. 1K-Kelby Watt; 12. 6W-Dustin Selvage; 13. 18R-Ryan Roberts; 14. 14T-Brooke Tatnell; 15. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek; 16. 53-Jessie Attard; 17. 2M-Ryan Giles; 18. 14J-Jack Dover; 19. 95-Tyler Drueke; 20. 27-Carson McCarl

E Main (10 Laps): 1. 3P-Sawyer Phillips; 2. 88T-Tanner Thorson; 3. 19H-Joel Myers; 4. 15JR-Cole Mincer; 5. 23L-Jimmy Light; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman; 7. 1D-Tasker Phillips; 8. 49X-Tim Shaffer; 9. 40-Clint Garner; 10. 10V-Brian Paulus; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel; 12. 25-Daison Pursley; 13. 1-Sammy Swindell; 14. 23M-Lance Moss; 15. 65-Jordan Goldesberry; 16. 27W-Weston Olson; 17. 9H-Landon Hansen; 18. 28-Joe Perry; 19. 2K-Kevin Ingle; 20. G5-Gage Pulkrabek; 21. 24-Terry McCarl; 22. J2-John Carney II; 23. 55T-McKenna Haase; 24. 6-Robbie Price; 25. 49J-Josh Schneiderman; 26. 101-Kalib Henry