Night one of the 2023 Knoxville Nationals is in the book. It started off with what we all expected, David Gravel going quick time in qualifying and setting himself up to be one of the high point drivers at the end of the night. Gravel’s night quickly turned sour, as contact between him and Justin Sanders on lap one of the heat sent him into the wall. That would force him to the C Main and ended any hope of him locking into Saturday’s A Main. Gravel would finish the night 20th in points.
Yesterday I predicted that the drivers locking in would be Gravel, Aaron Reutzel, Gio Scelzi, James McFadden, Kerry Madsen, Justin Peck, Donny Schatz and Brent Marks. As of now, only three of those drivers might be locked in. Donny Schatz won the night one feature and locked himself in. Madsen finished the night third in points and will also be racing in Saturday’s A Main. Scelzi is also likely locked in, as he ended the night fifth in points. Justin Peck suffered a scary crash in the feature that would end his hopes of being the high point man. Peck would walk away from the crash and he would finish 24th. That finish knocked him down to a tie for sixth in points. He will be on the bubble along with Chase Randall after tomorrow night.
Aaron Reutzel’s night was also over right after the drop of the green flag in his heat. Reutzel jumped a wheel going into the turn and damaged the front of his car. It ended his heat race and he scratched from the rest of the evening. James McFadden had a solid night, finishing as the eighth point man. That will likely put him up front in the B Main on Saturday. Brent Marks just couldn’t advance enough positions in his heat or the B Main to have a solid night. He ended up 18th in points.
It was a great night for Hunter Schuerenberg and Corey Day, as they are both locked in to Saturday’s A Main. Schuerenberg and the Swindell Speedlab team ended up second in points, while Day was fourth.
My sleepers were Kyle Reinhardt, Sye Lynch, Scott Bogucki, Mark Dobmeier, Justin Henderson, Jamie Ball, Tasker Phillips and Chase Dietz. I think I nailed half of them, Phillips had the most impressive night, finishing 10th in points. He will likely be locked into the B Main on Saturday but it could be close depending on what happens on Thursday. Lynch was very good but a poor qualifying effort point him behind the eight ball. He ended up 12th in points. Bogucki missed the A Main but still ended up 17th in points. Jamie Ball has an amazing lap in time trials but couldn’t hold the last transfer in the B Main. He would end up 15th in points.
Kasey Kahne, Dustin Selvage, Blake Hahn and Brandon Wimmer all put together solid nights. Kahne should be locked into the B Main on Saturday. Selvage will be on the bubble but we might be seeing him on Friday. Hahn led the first half of the feature but faded toward the end. We’ll see him on Friday after he ended up 14th in points.
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