DAVID GRAVEL TWO IN A ROW AT KNOXVILLE

Photo: The podium on Wednesday night of the Knoxville Nationals L to R: Donny Schatz (3rd place), David Gravel (winner) and Gio Scelzi (2nd place) (Paul Arch Photo)

David Gravel Continues Knoxville Roll in Nationals Opener! 

 by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 11, 2021) – David Gravel continued his momentum as he won the 60^th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night at Knoxville Raceway Wednesday (US time).  

The Watertown, Connecticut driver made it two in a row at Knoxville after winning Sunday’s Fatheadz Eyewear Capitani Classic Presented by Great Southern Bank.  The driver of the Big Game Motorsports #2 earned $12,000 for his tenth career win here.  Gio Scelzi emerged as the high point driver on the night (complete points below). 

 Zeb Wise had the lead on lap one, but by only .008 of a second over Justin Henderson.  Henderson moved into the lead on lap two, as Wise, Gravel, Peck and Josh Baughman followed.  Gravel used the low side to dispose of Wise for the runner-up spot on lap four, as Scelzi entered the top four.  On lap six, Scelzi slid in front of Wise in three and four to take third. 

 Henderson entered lapped traffic two laps before Wise slowed with a rear-end issue nine laps in.  The only restart of the race saw Henderson leading Gravel, Scelzi, Peck and James McFadden. 

 Donny Schatz entered the top five on lap 13, while Henderson maintained his lead heading back into traffic on lap 17.  Schatz gained fourth from Peck with five to go. 

 Up front, Gravel was gaining on Henderson, who slid in front of a lapper.  On lap 22, Gravel cruised on the low side to take the lead with three to go.   

 Gravel’s win came ahead of Scelzi, who gained second on the white flag lap, Schatz who made a last corner pass for third, Henderson and Peck.  Sheldon Haudenschild, hard-charger Logan Schuchart, McFadden, Cory Eliason and Spencer Bayston rounded out the top ten.  Brooke Tatnell set quick time over the 49-car field, while Josh Schneiderman, Kyle Reinhardt, Riley Goodno, Jake Bubak and Ayrton Gennetten won heats.  Tanner Carrick won the C main, and Schuchart claimed the B. 

 “This car is bad,” said Gravel in Victory Lane.  “I’m ready for Saturday.  That was a fast paced race.  It was wide open on the top.  It was starting to get tricky at the end, and that’s why I kind of pulled the trigger on Justin.  It started to curb up, and my wing was starting to go back by itself.  It just got a little tight at the end.  (Henderson) kind of pulled away from me on the restart, and he slid that lapped car and that broke his momentum.  I was able to stick the bottom of one and two.” 

 “I’m not sure how much I did,” said Scelzi.  “This car pretty much drives itself around this racetrack.  It was an awesome racetrack.  I’ve never seen it not build a cushion like that.  These guys have nailed the racetrack through the 360’s and the Cappy.” 

 “We could have got there,” said Schatz about his pursuit of the win.  “Twenty-five laps is a lot shorter than it’s going to be come Saturday.  We got rolling at the end.  Man, you change one thing and you end up changing ten.  You try to make a step in a certain direction and you take a step back.  That’s what these prelim nights are for.  We’ll have a couple days to let the masterminds come up with a plan.  We’ll be there.” 

 The 60^th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s continues Thursday, August 11 with Wolfe Eye Clinic Qualifying Night.  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter. 

60^th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night Results 

 Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 0, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (4), 15.208; 2. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (2), 15.209; 3. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (16), 15.249; 4. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (14), 15.353; 5. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (1), 15.365; 6. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (41), 15.403; 7. 55M, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (20), 15.420; 8. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (6), 15.448; 9. 2, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (47), 15.470; 10. 9, James McFadden, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (31), 15.472; 11. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (3), 15.524; 12. 25, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (8), 15.546; 13. 17X, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (33), 15.548; 14. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (9), 15.551; 15. 73, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (18), 15.551; 16. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (37), 15.568; 17. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (10), 15.596; 18. 28, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (34), 15.596; 19. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (7), 15.619; 20. 5W, Lucas Wolfe, Mechanicsburg, PA (42), 15.624; 21. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (26), 15.659; 22. 5XX, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (25), 15.663; 23. 11M, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (35), 15.684; 24. 2KS, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (22), 15.690; 25. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (43), 15.703; 26. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (23), 15.715; 27. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (15), 15.716; 28. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (29), 15.728; 29. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (44), 15.815; 30. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (48), 15.816; 31. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (28), 15.828; 32. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (39), 15.846; 33. 07, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (36), 15.863; 34. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (46), 15.865; 35. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (17), 15.868; 36. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (45), 15.902; 37. 83A, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (24), 15.937; 38. 21W, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (19), 15.942; 39. 1X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (40), 15.973; 40. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (11), 16.007; 41. 55K, Robbie Kendall, Catonsville, MD (30), 16.029; 42. 14K, Tori Knutson, Monticello, MN (5), 16.043; 43. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (12), 16.068; 44. 7C, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (38), 16.078; 45. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (32), 16.207; 46. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (49), 16.226; 47. 9G, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (21), 16.300; 48. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (27), 16.394; 49. 55, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (13), NT 

 Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:40.5: 1. Josh Schneiderman (2); 2. Jason Sides (1); 3. Justin Henderson (5); 4. Donny Schatz (7) / 5. AJ Moeller (4); 6. Carson McCarl (3); 7. Brooke Tatnell (8); 8. Derek Hagar (10) / 9. Tanner Carrick (6); 10. Robbie Kendall (9) 

 Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:40.8: 1. Kyle Reinhardt (2); 2. Zeb Wise (4); 3. Clint Garner (3); 4. Gio Scelzi (8) / 5. Scott Bogucki (6); 6. Austin Miller (1); 7. Terry McCarl (5); 8. McKenna Haase (7) / 9. Ryan Giles (10); 10. Tori Knutson (9) 

 Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:40.8: 1. Riley Goodno (1); 2. Spencer Bayston (4); 3. Skylar Gee (2); 4. Josh Baughman (6) / 5. Logan Schuchart (8); 6. Mark Dobmeier (3); 7. Don Droud Jr. (7); 8. Tim Shaffer (5) / 9. Matt Moro (9); 10. Joe Simbro (10) 

 Heat four (started), 10 Laps, 2:39.7: 1. Jake Bubak (1); 2. Davey Heskin (2); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 4. David Gravel (7) / 5. Anthony Macri (5); 6. Danny Dietrich (8); 7. Wayne Johnson (6); 8. Chad Kemenah (4) / 9. John Carney II (9) DNS – 10. Hunter Schuerenberg 

 Heat five (started), 10 Laps, 2:38.9: 1. Ayrton Gennetten (3); 2. Cory Eliason (4); 3. Justin Peck (6); 4. James McFadden (7) / 5. Roger Crockett (8); 6. Lucas Wolfe (5); 7. Jordan Goldesberry (1); 8. Tasker Phillips (9) / 9. Ryan Roberts (2) 

 C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:45.7: 1. Tanner Carrick (1); 2. John Carney II (6); 3. Robbie Kendall (3); 4. Ryan Roberts (2) / 5. Matt Moro (5); 6. Tori Knutson (4); 7. Joe Simbro (8); 8. Ryan Giles (7) DNS – 9. Hunter Schuerenberg 

B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Logan Schuchart (2); 2. Brooke Tatnell (1); 3. Danny Dietrich (3); 4. Don Droud Jr. (6) / 5. Roger Crockett (4); 6. Anthony Macri (11); 7. Wayne Johnson (8); 8. Terry McCarl (9); 9. Tim Shaffer (10); 10. Lucas Wolfe (12); 11. Carson McCarl (15); 12. Mark Dobmeier (16); 13. Chad Kemenah (14); 14. Tasker Phillips (19); 15. Robbie Kendall (23); 16. McKenna Haase (5); 17. Tanner Carrick (21); 18. AJ Moeller (13); 19. Derek Hagar (20); 20. Ryan Roberts (24); 21. Austin Miller (17); 22. John Carney II (22); 23. Jordan Goldesberry (18); 24. Scott Bogucki (7) 

 A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. David Gravel (6); 2. Gio Scelzi (8); 3. Donny Schatz (7); 4. Justin Henderson (2) / 5. Justin Peck (3); 6. Sheldon Haudenschild (12); 7. Logan Schuchart (21); 8. James McFadden (5); 9. Cory Eliason (10); 10. Spencer Bayston (9); 11. Josh Baughman (4); 12. Brooke Tatnell (22); 13. Ayrton Gennetten (13); 14. Davey Heskin (17); 15. Clint Garner (11); 16. Danny Dietrich (23); 17. Josh Schneiderman (14); 18. Jason Sides (18); 19. Skylar Gee (16); 20. Jake Bubak (20); 21. Kyle Reinhardt (15); 22. Don Droud Jr. (24); 23. Riley Goodno (19); 24. Zeb Wise (1). Lap Leaders: Wise 1, Henderson 2-21, Grave 22-25. Hard-charger: Schuchart. 

Friday Point Totals 

1 18 Gio Scelzi 487              2 15 Donny Schatz 477 

3 2 David Gravel 475          4 1S Logan Schuchart 472 

5 0 Brooke Tatnell 460        6 9 James McFadden 459 

7 7 Justin Henderson 458    8 73 Justin Peck 458 

9 48 Danny Dietrich 449     10 17X Josh Baughman 447 

11 11M Spencer Bayston 435     12 26 Cory Eliason 433 

13 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 428     14 1M Don Droud Jr. 426 

15 11 Roger Crockett 422           16 3 Ayrton Gennetten 418 

17 40 Clint Garner 414    18 5XX Zeb Wise 409 

19 49J Josh Schneiderman 408     20 56N Davey Heskin 405 

21 91 Kyle Reinhardt 398     22 07 Skylar Gee 394 

23 2C Wayne Johnson 394     24 7S Jason Sides 393 

25 39M Anthony Macri 392    26 55M McKenna Haase 387 

27 1X Jake Bubak 386     28 24 Terry McCarl 386 

29 21W Riley Goodno 382     30 28 Tim Shaffer 379 

31 5W Lucas Wolfe 379     32 83T Tanner Carrick 374 

33 25 Scott Bogucki 370     34 27 Carson McCarl 365 

35 20 AJ Moeller 364    36 13 Mark Dobmeier 359 

37 2KS Chad Kemenah 359     38 83A Austin Miller 323 

39 18R Ryan Roberts 320     40 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 315 

41 55K Robbie Kendall 315    42 65 Jordan Goldesberry 310 

43 9JR Derek Hagar 303     44 7C John Carney II 298 

45 2M Matt Moro 284     46 14K Tori Knutson 281 

47 9G Ryan Giles 270     48 56 Joe Simbro 267 

49 55 Hunter Schuerenberg 261