Donny Schatz won the Saturday afternoon program at Knoxville Raceway (Paul Arch Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 15, 2026) – Donny Schatz won his 31st career feature at Knoxville Raceway (tenth all-time) in Saturday afternoon’s FVP 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s 25-lap main event. The event was postponed from Friday night, and the updated format will see the Fargo, North Dakota driver starting eleventh in the C main, after the top 50 in points were locked into the A, B and C mains.
Carson McCarl led the feature early from his pole position, ahead of Steven Snyder Jr., Giovanni Scelzi, Chris Windom and Schatz. On lap two, Scelzi slid by Snyder for second, and Schatz moved by Windom for fourth.
Two laps in, problems for Will Armitage saw him stalled on the frontstretch. Schatz quickly grabbed third from Snyder with a slider in turn four. Another caution came with dual spins by Cap Henry and Derek Hagar.
On the restart, Schatz slid by both Scelzi and McCarl to take the lead in turn two. But in the process, Scelzi jumped McCarl’s right rear, sending him into the wall and upside down. Brenham Crouch was collected in the incident and got upside down as well. He was taken in for observation.
On the restart, Schatz tracked McCarl and slid by him in turn four to take the point, while Landon Crawley entered the top five. On lap six, Snyder shot by McCarl for second. On lap ten, Schatz entered traffic.
Rubber set in shortly, thereafter. Rees Moran grabbed a spot in the top five from Crawley on lap 14 as cars started to assume single-file formation. One last caution came out for Ashton Torgerson with four to go.
Schatz led from there to collect the $7,500 top prize in the CJB #15. Snyder was second, ahead of McCarl, Windom and Moran. Crawley, Matt Juhl, hard-charger JJ Hickle, Kelby Watt and Levi Hillier completed a top ten that will all compete in tonight’s C main. McCarl, Snyder, Brock Zearfoss and Moran won the heats and Lynton Jeffrey claimed the B main.
“My guys do a tremendous job and we’re making great strides here,” said Schatz. “The track kind of played our way. We were really good early, when the other guys weren’t. Obviously, the last half there was in the rubber. At that point, everybody could go good. Battling the weather, and out in the sun, that’s going to happen. We came out on the right end of it tonight.”
Join us tonight for the $200,000 to win finale of the 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s! For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
FVP Saturday Afternoon 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Results
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:44.6: 1. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (1); 2. 77, Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno, CA (3); 3. 12X, Landon Crawley, Benton, AR (4); 4. 87X, Ashton Torgerson, Glendale, AZ (6); 5. 17A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (5) / 6. 23L, Jimmy Light, Pittsboro, IN (8); 7. 27B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (9); 8. 4C, Cameron Martin, Ankeny, IA (7); 9. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (2); 10. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (10)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:48.5: 1. 51, Steven Snyder Jr, Rising Sun, MD (1); 2. 7S, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (4); 3. 11N, Darin Naida, Adrian, MI (2); 4. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (3); 5. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (7) / 6. 0, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (5); 7. 15J, Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA (6); 8. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher, Dallas, IA (8); DNS - 28M, Conner Morrell, Bradenton, FL
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:42.7: 1. 17GP, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (1); 2. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (2); 3. 5, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (3); 4. 45D, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (4); 5. 33W, Cap Henry, Republic, OH (5) / 6. 2M, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (7); 7. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (8); 8. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (6); DNS - 121, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:38.0: 1. 45X, Rees Moran, Tulsa, OK (1); 2. 6, Kasey Jedrzejek, Lagrange, OH (2); 3. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (6); 4. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (3); 5. 26R, Levi Hillier, Burlington, WA (5) / 6. 6DC, Will Armitage, Athens, IL (7); 7. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (9); 8. 85J, Logan Julien, Oconomowoc, WI (4); 9. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (8)
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:50.3: 1. 0, Lynton Jeffrey (2); 2. 23L, Jimmy Light (1); 3. 6DC, Will Armitage (4); 4. 2M, JJ Hickle (3) / 5. 27B, Garrett Benson (5); 6. 15J, Kade Higday (6); 7. 4C, Cameron Martin (9); 8. 14T, Brooke Tatnell (8); 9. G5, Gage Pulkrabek (7); 10. 15JR, Cole Mincer (11); 11. 3, Ayrton Gennetten (13); 12. 44X, Scotty Johnson (10); 13. 121, RJ Johnson (14); 14. 7B, Ben Brown (15); 15. 85J, Logan Julien (12) DNS - 16. 28M, Conner Morrell; 56, Joe Simbro
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. 15, Donny Schatz (7); 2. 51, Steven Snyder Jr (2); 3. 27, Carson McCarl (1); 4. 7S, Chris Windom (6); 5. 45X, Rees Moran (4); 6. 12X, Landon Crawley (9); 7. 09, Matt Juhl (14); 8. 2M, JJ Hickle (24); 9. 1K, Kelby Watt (18); 10. 26R, Levi Hillier (20); 11. 11N, Darin Naida (10); 12. 33W, Cap Henry (19); 13. 17GP, Brock Zearfoss (3); 14. 40, Clint Garner (16); 15. 45D, Derek Hagar (15); 16. 6, Kasey Jedrzejek (8); 17. 0, Lynton Jeffrey (21); 18. 23L, Jimmy Light (22); 19. 87X, Ashton Torgerson (13); 20. 17A, Jack Anderson (17); 21. 95, Matt Covington (12); 22. 77, Giovanni Scelzi (5); 23. 5, Brenham Crouch (11); 24. 6DC, Will Armitage (23). Lap Leaders: C. McCarl 1-4, Schatz 5-25. Hard-charger: Hickle.