Knoxville Nationals: Thoughts from Thursday and Hard Knox Predicitions

Carson Macedo took the lead from Anthony Macri on a restart with 10 laps to go and never looked back. The prelim win for Macedo locked him into Saturday’s A Main, where he will start fifth. Kyle Larson took advantage of some late race restarts and was able to move up to second. He will start on the pole for the A Main and will be joined by Rico Abreu, who charged from the B Main to finish fifth on Thursday. Spencer Bayston, Logan Schuchart, Buddy Kofoid, Ian Madsen, Dusty Zomer, Brad Sweet and Anthony Macri were the other drivers to lock into the main event.

One of the big stories of the night was Dusty Zomer, who timed well despite having a bad pill draw to start the night. That put him in position to transfer through his heat race and start up front in the A Main. Zomer held his own and came home with a top ten finish.The consistency throughout the night was impressive.

Anthony Macri led the first 15 laps of Thursday’s A Main and looked like he was on his way to a victory until the caution came out. Macri was a sitting duck, as he had no way of knowing what the fastest way around was since he was leading the entire race. Macri ended up dropping back to fourth, but it was still enough to lock in. It was one of his best runs to date in the CMR no. 7BC. We got some news that Tyler Courtney will be back behind the wheel within the next few weeks, so locking in has to be a nice confidence booster for Macri moving forward.

Per usual, there were a lot of complaints about the format again on Thursday night. This time it was not because of the big invert or lack of good cars in the prelim A Main. It was because of the drivers that are locked into the back of Saturday’s B Main. Those drivers do not even have an option to compete in Friday’s Hard Knox event. I kind of agree that drivers should be able to forfeit their B Main position and be allowed to run the Hard Knox night. I think it makes more sense for drivers one through four or one through six to be locked into the B Main. Now, Sheldon Haudenschild will be forced to pass at least six cars if he wants to transfer into the A Main. That is something we can all look forward to watching on Saturday night.

Currently, the four drivers locked into a transfer spot in Saturday’s B Main include Justin Peck, James McFadden, Kasey Kahne and Austin McCarl. That is a tough front two rows and it will be hard for anyone in the B Main to lock into a transfer spot. Not to mention, one of the favorites, Brian Brown, is right behind those guys in row three. Shane Stewart, Garet Williamson, Tasker Phillips, Dustin Selvage and Haudenschild complete the B Main lock-ins. Shout out to Garet Williamson for finding a ride and wheeling that race car to a great finish. Selvage also deserves a ton of credit, earning his first top ten all year on the biggest stage.

Hard Knox Predictions

Hard Knox night is filled with some heavy hitters that suffered issues during their prelim night. David Gravel was well on his way to locking in until he wrecked on lap one of his heat race. He will absolutely be the favorite tonight. Daryn Pittman got upside down during Thursday’s A Main, costing him a chance to at least lock into the B Main. Shane Golobic suffered engine problems after time trials and was forced to miss his heat race. He won the C Main but was buried in points. Cory Eliason pulled off during the A Main after somewhat of a quiet night for him. Lynton Jeffrey made contact with Scott Bogucki in Wednesday’s B Main, effectively ending his night and ending any chance he had at locking into the B Main. I’m not sure what was going on with Davey Heskin, but he had his share of struggles on Wednesday. Aaron Reutzel wrecked on the first lap of his heat race on Wednesday, causing him to scratch from the rest of the evening.

Drivers I Have My Eye On

1. David Gravel	5. Shane Golobic
2. Aaron Reutzel	6. Scott Bogucki
3. Daryn Pittman	7. Lynton Jeffrey
4. Brent Marks	8. Cory Eliason

The top four transfers will likely be in the list above. The ones in bold are my true predictions. I had Pittman as a lock in last night and he got pretty close until his wreck. I had Marks and Reutzel as lock-ins on Wednesday night. Jeffrey and Bogucki have both been very fast lately and have been making good laps around Knoxville.

Drivers Who Could Sneak In

1. Tanner Holmes	5. Kalib Henry
2. Bill Balog	6. Sye Lynch
3. Justin Henderson	7. Blake Hahn
4. Sawyer Phillips	8. Jamie Ball

I had most of these guys on my sleepers list from the previous two nights. Ball just missed out on making the A Main on his prelim night which would have likely locked him into the B Main at minimum. Hahn led a bunch of laps during Wednesday’s A Main and looked like he had the best car he’s had all season. Phillips and Henderson are both Knoxville regulars that showed moments of speed during their prelims. Lynch has a poor effort during time trials which hindered his entire night. Balog has been on a tear lately and for a moment I thought he has a chance to lock in last night. Holmes has been so impressive the last two weeks at Knoxville. Henry was up to 12th last night until he ran out of gas. He has that no. 101 looking the best it has all season.