Kyle Larson won his fourth Knoxville Nationals in the last six years early Sunday morning (Paul Arch Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 15, 2026) – Kyle Larson’s night started with a NASCAR Cup run in Richmond, Virginia, but thanks to a three-hour rain delay and a fast jet, he made it to Knoxville Raceway early Sunday morning to claim the $200,000 top prize in the 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s. The Elk Grove, California native led all 50 laps to garner his fourth Nationals win in six years. Including his prelim win, the SprintCarUnlimited.com $2,000 for winning the pole, and the Beaver Drill & Tool/MPV Express/Mike & Kathy Hulbert Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” Award worth $10,000, his total earnings for the week topped $212,000. It was his sixteenth career win at the “Sprint Car Capital of the World.”
Larson missed A main hot laps, but arrived from Richmond before the 22-lap B main started. He shot out from the pole position in the 50-lapper ahead of Sheldon Haudenschild, Kasey Kahne, James McFaden and Buddy Kofoid. Kahne shot by Haudenschild for the runner-up spot on lap two.
Larson was into lapped traffic on the eighth circuit, and had a 3.8 second lead by lap 15. Chase Dietz worked his way into the top five on the same lap.
By the mandatory fuel stop on lap 25, Larson had lapped all but the top thirteen cars and held a 4.5 second lead. Kahne, Haudenschild, McFadden and Dietz trailed at that point, and were followed by Logan Schuchart, Kofoid, David Gravel, Parker Price-Miller and B main transfers, Carson Macedo and Tanner Holmes.
Once green again, Schuchart passed Dietz for fifth, with Kofoid in tow. Brian Brown stopped with 23 to go, bringing another caution. Schuchart passed McFadden for the fourth spot, when the green fell.
Larson was back in traffic with Kahne in pursuit, but he separated himself while lapping cars and held a 1.8 second lead with ten laps to go, as Haudenschild passed Kahne for second. The lead evaporated at that point, when Macedo’s strong ninth place run ended when he went up in smoke.
Larson led the ten-lap Dash to the checkers to win his fourth Nationals with car owner Paul Silva, ahead of Haudenschild, Kahne, Schuchart and McFadden. Schuchart peaked with a lap 43 pass of Kahne for second. Kahne returned the favor with three to go. Larson was back in traffic with two to go and pulled away for the win.
Haudenschild claimed second, ahead of Kahne, McFadden and Schuchart. Gravel, Kofoid, Price-Miller, Brent Marks and Dietz completed the top ten. Darin Naida won the D main, Ryan Timms took the C main, and Tyler Courtney claimed the 22-lap B.
Larson won the Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” Award, ahead of McFadden ($6,000) and Corey Day ($4,000).
Landon Crawley won the Skagit Speedway Best Appearing Car Award ($2,500), followed by Sheldon Haudenschild ($1,500) and Parker Price-Miller ($1,000).
Think N Ink Best Appearing Helmet Awards went to Sheldon Haudenschild ($500), followed by Danny Sams III ($300) and Sye Lynch ($200).
The Avanti Windows & Doors Best Appearing Crews went to the Shark Racing 1s ($500), Fischer Motorsports 23 ($250) and the Jason Johnson Racing 41 ($150).
The JETCO Rookie of the Year went to Jy Corbet ($1,000).
“It’s extremely surreal,” said Larson in Victory Lane. “It was a range of emotions. Going back the last couple days, I had no emotions. I knew I wasn’t going to race, but there was still that glimmer of hope with the rain and the forecast. When I got in the Cup car, it only showed a 10% chance of rain at 6 or something. I was sad for a minute. Cliff came on the radio and said there was a rain delay here and they hadn’t started hot laps yet. I got a kickstart of emotion, and it’s wild how I’m here tonight standing here talking to you. Huge thank you to Hendrick Motorsports. I couldn’t do this without them. I felt really good there early. I was actually a bit nervous. I felt too free and loose. I was nervous when I got in traffic, but it seemed I could just carve through there. I felt like judging myself on the lappers, it would be hard for anyone to close on me and then make a move. (Paul Silva) doesn’t do much talking at all. He’s just such a strong mind. He’s so smart. For someone who’s never been behind the wheel of a racecar, to be as good as he is as a crew chief is unreal. He can read the car better than I can feel it. I think having that combination helps me just run the sprint car the way it needs to be. I hope all the people (complaining) about us running our preliminary night understand why. This was the best case scenario.”
“(Larson and Kahne) both had a good pace,” said Haudenschild. “Kasey cleared me early, and I just followed him around a long time. Kyle was obviously farther away. My hats off to my team. I’m glad Kyle got back, because if I win, I want to beat Kyle. He’s the best there is. We had a great time this week, and all our partners are here. I thought I might have a shot on that last restart, but I couldn’t rail one and two quite good enough. I felt like I paced him fine after that, but hard to get to him when we’re running that fast.”
“It was great,” said Kahen of his run. “We got right to second there, and I was going to do all I could to keep up with Kyle. I knew we were in a good spot. We worked on it a little bit under the red. I was still in the hunt. I was really happy with my car. I was up a little on my left front, so I had to push it down. I just did that a couple too many times. That’s when I got sideways and Sheldon ended up getting by. Overall, it was a great race, and a great Knoxville Nationals for our team.”
Join us Saturday, August 29 for McKay Group Season Championship Night! The Leighton State Bank 410 Sprints, the Randall Roofing 360 Sprints and the Raceway Tire & Muffler Pro Sprints will all be in action! For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s Results
D main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 11N, Darin Naida, Adrian, MI (1); 2. 33W, Cap Henry, Republic, OH (2); 3. 6, Kasey Jedrzejek, Lagrange, OH (4); 4. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (3) / 5. 0, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (5) ($2,400 from the Truck Bar); 6. 17A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (8); 7. 45D, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (7); 8. 4C, Cameron Martin, Ankeny, IA (12); 9. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (14); 10. 23L, Jimmy Light, Pittsboro, IN (6); 11. 14T, Brooke Tatnell (, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust.13); 12. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (15); 13. 15J, Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA (11); 14. 121, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (18); 15. 28M, Conner Morrell, Bradenton, FL (20); 16. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher, Dallas, IA (17); 17. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (19); 18. 27B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (10); 19. 6DC, Will Armitage, Athens, IL (9); 20. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (16) DNS -87x, Ashton Torgerson, Glendale, AZ; 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 77, Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno, CA; 5, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX; 85J, Logan Julien, Oconomowoc, WI; 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA; 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN; 31, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN; 2KS, Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK; 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA; 1, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN; 8, John Carney II, El Paso, TX; 19H, Joel Myers Jr., Santa Rosa, CA; 11R, Rodney Huband, Wimberley, TX; 16G, Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO
C main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. 10, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (1); 2. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (2); 3. 26, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (3); 4. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Sunnyvale, TX (4) / 5. 9R, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (5); 6. 21H, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (8); 7. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (7); 8. 9P, Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (6); 9. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (11); 10. 53, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (9); 11. 51, Steven Snyder Jr, Rising Sun, MD (12); 12. 12X, Landon Crawley, Benton, AR (16); 13. 09, Matt Juhl (, Tea, SD17); 14. 7S, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (14); 15. 33W, Cap Henry (22); 16. 11N, Darin Naida (21); 17. 6, Kasey Jedrzejek (23); 18. 40, Clint Garner (24); 19. 2M, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (18); 20. 45X, Rees Moran, Tulsa, OK (15); 21. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (10); 22. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (19); 23. 26R, Levi Hillier, Burlington, WA (20); 24. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (13)
B main (started), 22 Laps, NT: 1. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (4); 2. 41, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (6); 3. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (1); 4. 13, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (11) / 5. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (5); 6. 17, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (8); 7. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (3); 8. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (10); 9. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (7); 10. 1X, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (12); 11. 10, Ryan Timms (21); 12. 25, Jy Corbet, Gympie, QLD, Aust. (9); 13. 16C, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (16); 14. 15K, Creed Kemenah, Alvada, OH (18); 15. 74, Xavier Doney, Odess, MO (13); 16. 6T, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (14); 17. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA(15); 18. 55, Kerry Madsen (22); 19. 19HM, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (19); 20. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (17); 21. 24D, Danny Sams III, North Port, FL (20); 22. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr (24); 23. 26, Justin Peck (23); 24. 27A, Emerson Axsom, Franklin, IN (2)
A main (started), 50 Laps, NT: 1. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (1); 2. 18, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (2); 3. 4, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (4); 4. 21T, James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, Aust. (3); 5. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (12); 6. 2, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (10); 7. 83, Michael Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (5); 8. 71, Parker Price Miller, Kokomo, IN (7); 9. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (18); 10. 23D, Chase Dietz, York, PA (9); 11. 13, Tanner Holmes (24); 12. 11, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (6); 13. 7BC, Tyler Courtney (21); 14. 14, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (15); 15. 23, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (13); 16. 28, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS (20); 17. 14TSR, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (11); 18. 2C, Cole Macedo, Lemoore, CA (14); 19. 88T, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (19); 20. 42, Sye Lynch (23); 21. 41, Carson Macedo (22); 22. 69K, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (8); 23. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (16); 24. 88W, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (17). Lap Leader: Larson 1-50. MPi Hard-charger: Holmes