Austin McCarl Earns the Pole for Saturday Night 

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 11, 2022) – Jacob Allen realized a dream by adding his name to the winner’s list at Knoxville Raceway Thursday on Night #2 of the 61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s.  The win was worth $12,000 to the Hanover, Pennsylvania resident and came aboard the Shark Racing #1a.  Jacob joined his teammate Logan Schuchart, who won Wednesday, and his father Bobby as a Knoxville winner.  Austin McCarl emerged as the high point man, and earned $2,000 from SprintCarUnlimited.com as the pole-sitter for Saturday’s $175,000 to win finale.

Allen shot by pole-sitter Zeb Wise to lead early in the 25-lap main event, ahead of Brad Sweet, Lynton Jeffrey and Austin McCarl.  McCarl used the low side to get by Jeffrey for fourth on lap three.  Kyle Larson, who had to transfer through the B, made quick work of the backside of the feature lineup, and was tenth by lap six.

Sweet passed Wise for second, and started his pursuit of Allen on lap seven.  Carson Macedo entered the top five by lap eight.  He passed McCarl for fourth on lap 14, and two circuits later, disposed of Wise for the third spot.  McCarl would work by Wise himself with seven laps to go and secure fourth.

Sweet reeled in Allen in traffic and passed him briefly on the 21^st lap.  Allen was back in front at the line, however and continued his pace.  Macedo entered the battle late, but Allen was too strong, and raced across the line for his first victory here.

Sweet held down second, ahead of Macedo, high point-getter McCarl and hard-charger Larson.  Wise, Tyler Courtney, Kasey Kahne, Jeffrey and JJ Hickle completed the top ten.  Tasker Phillips registered quick time over the 50-car field and earned enough points to nail down his first Knoxville Nationals berth.  Dylan Cisney, Zach Hampton, Hhickle, Brian Brown and Jack Dover won heat races.  Daryn Pittman won the B main and Skylar Gee took the C.

“This is so amazing!” said Allen in Victory Lane.  “To get my Dad’s #1a car…looks like it did when he won the Nationals (1990).  What else can you really say?  I had to hold off Brad Sweet, who’s a champ here.  I’m just so blessed and thankful.  A Knoxville victory just tops it off!  Let’s go!  I was telling Logan I could throw up before this feature starts.  You put the pressure on me (after winning) Wednesday.  What would it be like if Shark Racing swept the wins on the prelim nights.  What an amazing night!  When Shark Racing first came out on the road, they wouldn’t think that we were capable of doing this.  To be able to accomplish this, it just shows you that no matter how hard you work at something…if you believe it and you want it, it can  happen.  It felt like a game of cat and mouse with the ‘Big Cat.’  Brad’s the man.  He was the one I was worried about.  He’s a great competitor and one of my friends.  If it wasn’t for talking to Brad many times throughout these years, I probably wouldn’t be here either.  Brad’s been very good to me.”

“I’m happy for Jake,” said Sweet.  “That was cool to see the 1a get back to Victory Lane here at Knoxville.  I’ve been friends with Scruffy and those guys.  I’m a little disappointed.  I thought we had a shot there.  I just didn’t make the right moves.  When I slid him over there, I wonder what would have happened if I just hit the bottom and stuck it.  I think I would have been better off.  I never could get the same run.  But he did a great job.  He weaved his way through all that (traffic), and it’s hard to get a win at Knoxville.  We’ll take a second.  I think we’re locked in the A.  We’ve got our work to do Saturday.”

“I actually got a little bit of a bad start there and had to just reel it back in,” said Macedo.  “I felt like I got to the top and was really making momentum and speed, and then got by a few cars.  All of a sudden, I could see Brad and Jacob.  I looked at the board and saw they were running one and two.  I reeled them in fairly fast, but kind of faded at the end.  I started getting tight in dirty air.  I thought Jacob did a really good job.  I think we’re sitting nice in points and locked into Saturday night, so you can’t ask for much more than that.”

The 61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s continues Thursday, August 8 with Qualifying Night #2!  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter.

(Points Below Results)

61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Qualifying Night #2 Results 

 Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (3), 15.407; 2. 11X, Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (21), 15.419; 3. 27H, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (17), 15.427; 4. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (14), 15.443; 5. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (4), 15.452; 6. 5, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (18), 15.485; 7. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (35), 15.506; 8. 16, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (5), 15.529; 9. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (13), 15.550; 10. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (12), 15.552; 11. 41, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (19), 15.623; 12. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (10), 15.646; 13. 25, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (27), 15.650; 14. 17S, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (29), 15.656; 15. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (6), 15.711; 16. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (30), 15.732; 17. 2K, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (8), 15.736; 18. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (32), 15.753; 19. 11N, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (2), 15.756; 20. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (31), 15.769; 21. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (28), 15.785; 22. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (20), 15.815; 23. 19W, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (25), 15.822; 24. 3TK, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (42), 15.830; 25. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (22), 15.837; 26. 49X, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (43), 15.840; 27. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (40), 15.841; 28. 11T, TJ Stutts, Liverpool, PA (11), 15.845; 29. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (7), 15.855; 30. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (37), 15.868; 31. 5C, Dylan Cisney, Port Royal, PA (26), 15.886; 32. 15M, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (1), 15.905; 33. 1, Logan Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (24), 15.911; 34. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (46), 15.919; 35. 20G, Noah Gass, Mounds, OK (16), 15.928; 36. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (23), 15.929; 37. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (44), 16.009; 38. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (33), 16.048; 39. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (39), 16.048; 40. 53, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (41), 16.091; 41. 99, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (15), 16.12; 42. 83JR, Kerry Madsen, St. Marys, NSW, Aust. (48), 16.158; 43. 14H, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (45), 16.202; 44. 6, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (36), 16.226; 45. 97, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (38), 16.299; 46. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (34), 16.337; 47. 35K, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (49), 16.404; 48. 4W, Matt Wasmund, Jackson, MN (50), 16.537; 49. 97G, Alan Gilbertson, Kasson, MN (47), 16.677; 50. 6A, Adam Cruea, Troy, OH (9), NT

Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:43.3: 1. Dylan Cisney (2); 2. Jacob Allen (4); 3. Cale Thomas (3); 4. Carson Macedo (6) / 5. Tanner Carrick (1); 6. Tasker Phillips (8); 7. Carson McCarl (5); 8. Spencer Bayston (7) / 9. Skylar Gee (9); 10. Tyler Drueke (10)

Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.0: 1. Zach Hampton (1); 2. Kasey Kahne (3); 3. Zeb Wise (4); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (5) / 5. Matt Juhl (6); 6. Buddy Kofoid (8); 7. Kyle Larson (7); 8. Bobby Mincer (2) / 9. Chad Kemenah (9) DNS – 10. Kerry Madsen

Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:44.0: 1. JJ Hickle (6); 2. Logan Wagner (2); 3. Brad Sweet (5); 4. Chris Windom (4) / 5. Brooke Tatnell (7); 6. Daryn Pittman (8); 7. TJ Stutts (3); 8. Chris Martin (1) / 9. Josh Higday (9); 10. Matt Wasmund (10)

Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:44.7: 1. Brian Brown (1); 2. Tim Kaeding (4); 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2); 4. Tyler Courtney (8) / 5. Anthony Macri (7); 6. Kraig Kinser (3); 7. Harli White (5); 8. Sammy Swindell (6) / 9. Bill Rose (9); 10. Alan Gilbertson (10)

Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:47.9: 1. Jack Dover (1); 2. Noah Gass (2); 3. Bill Balog (3); 4. Austin McCarl (8) / 5. Rico Abreu (5); 6. Ryan Roberts (4); 7. Sye Lynch (7); 8. Thomas Kennedy (6) / 9. Greg Wilson (9); 10. Adam Cruea (10)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:50.3: 1. Skylar Gee (1); 2. Josh Higday (3); 3. Greg Wilson (5); 4. Chad Kemenah (7) / 5. Bill Rose (2); 6. Tyler Drueke (4); 7. Matt Wasmund (6); 8. Alan Gilbertson (8) DNS – 9. Kerry Madsen; 10. Adam Cruea

B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Daryn Pittman (3); 2. Kyle Larson (5); 3. Tasker Phillips (1); 4. Buddy Kofoid (2) / 5. Anthony Macri (7); 6. Sye Lynch (8); 7. Rico Abreu (14); 8. Sammy Swindell (10); 9. Harli White (13); 10. Matt Juhl (9); 11. Carson McCarl (12); 12. Chris Martin (20); 13. Thomas Kennedy (11); 14. Chad Kemenah (24); 15. Skylar Gee (21); 16. Josh Higday (22); 17. Tanner Carrick (19); 18. Ryan Roberts (15); 19. Greg Wilson (23); 20. Kraig Kinser (17); 21. Spencer Bayston (4); 22. TJ Stutts (16); 23. Bobby Mincer (18); 24. Brooke Tatnell (6)

A main (started), 25 Laps, 7:27.6: 1. Jacob Allen (2); 2. Brad Sweet (3); 3. Carson Macedo (6); 4. Austin McCarl (7); 5. Kyle Larson (22); 6. Zeb Wise (1); 7. Tyler Courtney (8); 8. Kasey Kahne (12); 9. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 10. JJ Hickle (5); 11. Tim Kaeding (10); 12. Daryn Pittman (21); 13. Chris Windom (9); 14. Dylan Cisney (14); 15. Brian Brown (19); 16. Buddy Kofoid (24); 17. Noah Gass (17); 18. Tasker Phillips (23); 19. Bill Balog (13); 20. Cale Thomas (11); 21. Zach Hampton (18); 22. Logan Wagner (15); 23. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (16); 24. Jack Dover (20). Lap Leader: Allen 1-25. Hard-charger: Larson.

Combined Point Totals 

 Drivers Locked into Saturday’s A 

Drivers Locked into Saturday’s B 

Drivers eligible to compete in Friday’s FVP Hard Knox Night