All Donny Schatz needed was a caution, he got that and more in a red flag with 17 laps down in the A-Main of Wednesday Night’s night one of the 62nd Nos Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals as heard live on KNIA. Schatz started 7th and was 3td when Justin Peck crashed hard out of turn four bringing out a red flag. That was all he needed to evaluate his position and to plan his move as he and Chase Randall battled for a couple of laps but Schatz pulled away for a comfortable win. Schatz said in victory lane, as good as the field is, he had to bring it.
Schatz: “I don’t think you can leave anything on the table anymore. I think being in that 5th heat was key. We didn’t run that good earlier this season here. We went back to square one and the car feels really good.”
Randall settled for 2nd with Sheldon Haudenschild coming in 3rd to complete the podium. After night one, Schatz leads the points with Hunter Schuerenberg in 2nd, Kerry Madsen is 3rd, Gio Scelzi in 4th and Corey Day completing the top five. The second half of the field will run tonight and at the end of tonight’s action the top 16 in points will be locked into Saturday’s finale. You can listen to flag-to-flag coverage starting with Live Track Side at 5:00 and Race Nights Live at 7:00 on the DeYarman Automotive Radio Racing Network on KNIA.
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (7); 2. Chase Randall (3); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (12); 4. Kerry Madsen (4); 5. Blake Hahn (1); 6. Sye Lynch (9); 7. Hunter Schuerenberg (6); 8. Dustin Selvage (2); 9. Brandon Wimmer (14); 10. Gio Scelzi (21); 11. Tasker Phillips (24); 12. Brady Bacon (16); 13. Kasey Kahne (5); 14. Corey Day (22); 15. James McFadden (23); 16. Cole Macedo (13); 17. Justin Henderson (18); 18. Riley Goodno (10); 19. Jake Bubak (11); 20. Don Droud Jr. (19); 21. Robbie Price (17); 22. Carson McCarl (20); 23. Tanner Carrick (15); 24. Justin Peck (8). Lap Leaders: Hahn 1-17, Randall 18-21, Schatz 22-25. Hard-charger: T. Phillips.
Wednesday Points
1 15 Donny Schatz 479
2 39 Hunter Schuerenberg 462
3 55 Kerry Madsen 459
4 18 Gio Scelzi 458
5 14 Corey Day 458
6 2KS Chase Randall 449
7 13 Justin Peck 449
8 83 James McFadden 447
9 9 Kasey Kahne 446
10 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 437
11 7W Dustin Selvage 435
12 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 434
13 42 Sye Lynch 434
14 52 Blake Hahn 429
15 4W Jamie Ball 416
16 7TW Brandon Wimmer 415
17 10L Scott Bogucki 414
18 19 Brent Marks 412
19 21H Brady Bacon 408
20 21T Cole Macedo 403
21 2 David Gravel 403
22 1X Jake Bubak 401
23 22 Riley Goodno 399
24 1 Justin Henderson 394
25 39M Justin Sanders 392
26 7S Robbie Price 382
27 83T Tanner Carrick 382
28 26 Zeb Wise 381
29 1M Don Droud Jr. 380
30 27 Carson McCarl 380
31 50YR JJ Hickle 379
32 2K Lynton Jeffrey 377
33 9P Parker Price-Miller 373
34 16 Brooke Tatnell 370
35 49X Tim Shaffer 357
36 24T Christopher Thram 350
37 1C Brenham Crouch 344
38 55T McKenna Haase 340
39 1A Chase Dietz 340
40 8 Aaron Reutzel 333
41 91 Kyle Reinhardt 327
42 95 Matt Covington 315
43 70 Kraig Kinser 315
44 17X Terry McCarl 300
45 24H Kade Higday 294
46 13JT Mark Dobmeier 272
47 44 Chris Martin 270
48 2M Davey Heskin 269
49 2KK Kevin Ingle 267
50 15JR Cole Mincer 255
51 37 Ayden Gatewood 238
52 9H Landon Hansen 235