For the first time in his last five starts at Knoxville Raceway, Kyle Larson left without a trophy in his hand.
He finished second, but if it wasn’t for a dominating defensive drive by David Gravel, Larson would have had his fourth straight win.
Instead, it was the No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing crew celebrating in victory lane, just like they did after winning the 2019 Knoxville Nationals.
“Paul Silva and Kyle Larson are really good, but when Phillip Dietz and David Gravel are on, we can compete with the best,” said Gravel in Victory Lane. “Tonight it showed. Kyle is a good friend, and he’s making us step up our game. It’s been a struggle this year to get a balance.”
The finish to tonight's main event, as David Gravel holds off Kyle Larson at Knoxville. #TheOneandOnly #WoOSprint
That was some great defense.
🎥 @dirtvision pic.twitter.com/4dyIYx2mGc
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) August 15, 2020
The lapped cars in front of Gravel came to the aid of the 41 car late, as it derailed the run that Larson had going on the final lap.
“Tonight we were running well,” Gravel said. “It was definitely intense. Those lapped cars…who knows where they were going? I know Kyle was close at the end. I know we had a good last lap. I was getting tight on the curb. We’re right where we want to be.”
Gravel is one of four drivers that will get to bypass the four qualifying races that will set the field for tomorrow’s night of racing.
The rest of the lineups were set from the action on Thursday and Friday night put together.
Hot laps for Saturday’s racing action at Knoxville are slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. The lineups for the qualifying races are based on points and points alone and remain unofficial until the amount of scratched cars is determined on Saturday.
The One and Only Night 2 Feature Results
1. David Gravel
2. Kyle Larson
3. Brad Sweet
4. Rico Abreu
5. Shane Golobic
6. Sheldon Haudenschild
7. Cory Eliason
8. Shane Stewart
9. Logan Schuchart
10. Aaron Reutzel
11. Donny Schatz
12. James McFadden
13. Carson Macedo
14. Matt Juhl
15. Anthony Macri
16. Brian Brown
17. Sammy Swindell
18. Daryn Pittman
19. Jacob Allen
20. Brock Zearfoss
21. Sam Hafertepe Jr.
22. Sawyer Phillips
23. Brooke Tatnell
24. Colby Copeland
25. Spencer Bayston
Projected Saturday Starting Lineups
Top Four Clinched into the Dash
1. David Gravel
2. Kyle Larson
3. Aaron Reutzel
4. Logan Schuchart
Qualifier 1
1. Brian Brown
2. Brad Sweet
3. James McFadden
4. Sheldon Haudenschild
5. Donny Schatz
6. Shane Golobic
7. Danny Dietrich
8. Josh Baughman
9. Colby Copeland
10. Mason Daniel
11. Tim Shaffer
12. Tucker Klaasmeyer
13. Kyle Offill
14. Cale Thomas
15. JeffSwindell
16. Scott Bogucki (done for weekend)
Qualifier 2
1. Rico Abreu
2. Cory Eliason
3. Matt Juhl
4. Joey Saldana
5. Terry McCarl
6. Jason Sides
7. Tasker Phillips
8. Tyler Courtney
9. Josh Schneiderman
10. Ayrton Gennetten
11. Lynton Jeffrey
12. Davey Heskin
13. Chris Martin
14. Bill Rose
15. Joe Simbro
16. Justin Henderson (didn’t race Friday)
Qualifier 3
1. Carson Macedo
2. Jacob Allen
3. Shane Stewart
4. Brooke Tatnell
5. Sammy Swindell
6. Paul McMahan
7. Austin McCarl
8. Ian Madsen
9. Kerry Madsen
10. Trey Starks
11. Hunter Schuerenberg
12. Tasker Phillips
13. Ryan Giles
14. Tori Knutson
15. Kevin Ingle
16. Scotty Thiel (didn’t race Friday)
Qualifier 4
1. Spencer Bayston
2. Daryn Pittman
3. Gio Scelzi
4. Brock Zearfoss
5. Sam Hafertepe Jr.
6. Tim Kaeding
7. Parker Price-Miller
8. Anthony Macri
9. Kraig Kinser
10. Wayne Johnson
11. Skylar Gee
12. Dominic Scelzi
13. Zach Hampton
14. Sye Lynch
15. AJ Moeller (didn’t race Friday)
