Logan Schuchart qualified 26th in time trials for the first of two Knoxville Nationals preliminary nights Wednesday.
Usually, it would set a driver back far enough in points that it would bury them in the point standings forcing them to run Friday’s last-chance style Hard Knox Night. Wednesday was different.
Schuchart earned the win after starting up front, holding off a pair of former Knoxville Nationals champions to make the trip to victory lane. Although, he’s not in an overtly favorable spot in points.
Track conditions mired any hopes of passing in the night’s heat races. A greased up, hard surface had drivers holding the throttle down all the way around the track. Pair that with the 8-car invert in each heat and there was no hope of a clean Row 4-to-transfer spot scenario.
Just three of the top 20 qualifiers in time trials finished top 4 in their heat races to secure a spot in the A-Main. Two of them finished on the podium in Donny Schatz and David Gravel. The other was Aaron Reutzel, who came home sixth.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that at Knoxville,” Schatz said in the postrace press conference.
The list of names missing the A-Main included Sheldon Haudenschild, Sawyer Phillips, and Ayrton Gennetten each missed the feature event after qualifying in the top 10.
Justin Henderson was in the same boat, and offered this after being eliminated with plans to run Friday night:
Night 2 of the Knoxville Nationals comes Thursday as the other half of the field gets its turn to take to the famed half-mile. Hot laps kick off at 7:00 p.m. CT on DirtVision leading into qualifying and a set of heat races that could shake a lot up.
Knoxville Nationals Night 1 results
Wed. August 10, 2022
1. Logan Schuchart
2. Donny Schatz
3. David Gravel
4. Gio Scelzi
5. James McFadden
6. Aaron Reutzel
7. Justin Peck
8. Cole Macedo
9. Corey Day
10. Roger Crockett
11. Hunter Schuerenberg
12. Parker Price-Miller
13. Brent Marks
14. Colby Copeland
15. Justin Sanders
16. Kyle Reinhardt
17. Carson Short
18. Scotty Thiel
19. Mike Wagner
20. Lachlan McHugh
21. Mark Dobmeier
22. Ian Madsen
23. Davey Heskin
24. Brandon Wimmer
Knoxville Nationals Point Standings
After Night 1
1. Donny Schatz 469
1. David Gravel 469
3. Brent Marks 462
4. Parker Price-Miller 457
5. Justin Sanders 456
6. Aaron Reutzel 447
7. Gio Scelzi 445
8. Logan Schuchart 444
9. James McFadden 441
10. Justin Peck 441
11. Cole Macedo 435
12. Ian Madsen 434
13. Corey Day 422
14. Roger Crockett 417
15. Colby Copeland 416
16. Ayrton Gennetten 414
17. Hunter Schuerenberg 410
18. Shane Golobic 407
19. Sheldon Haudenschild 405
20. Josh Schneiderman 401
21. Lachlan McHugh 399
22. Carson Short 398
23. Justin Henderson 396
24. Kyle Reinhardt 395
24. Brady Bacon 395
26. McKenna Hasse 392
27. Scotty Thiel 390
27. Mike Wagner 390
29. Robbie Price 386
30. Sawyer Phillips 385
31. Davey Heskin 384
32. Mark Dobmeier 382
33. Cory Eliason 381
34. Brandon Wimmer 380
35. Dustin Selvage 376
36. Terry McCarl 373
37. Marcus Dumesny 360
38. Scott Bogucki 333
39. AJ Moeller 332
40. Clint Garner 323
41. Brock Zearfoss 318
42. Dylan Westbrook 306
43. Jordan Goldsberry 302
44. Kevin Ingle 301
45. Riley Goodno 293
46. Skylar Prochaska 278
47. Derek Hagar 272
48. Jake Bubak 271
49. Don Droud Jr. 265
50. Rusty Hickman 257
51. Blake Hahn 230
