Logan Schuchart, Justin Henderson and Emerson Axsom Join Him in Saturday’s Championship
By Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 9, 2024) – Donny Schatz has had a rough week at Knoxville, but a stroke of luck and strong feature drive have him headed to Saturday night’s finale of the 63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s. It was the thirtieth win for the Fargo, North Dakota native, who won aboard the Tony Stewart Racing #15. Friday’s “Hard Knox Night” at the Nationals saw the top four qualifying for Saturday’s finale. Other top four finishers, Logan Schuchart, Justin Henderson and Emerson Axsom will join Schatz in Saturday’s finale. (Full lineups below)
Getting to even start up front in the feature took some luck for Schatz. After setting quick time in his group, he ran fourth in a heat race that only took the top three to the main event. However, when the second place car of Jack Dover failed to go to the scales, he inherited the third and final transfer, putting him on the pole.
Schatz led lap one in the 25-lapper ahead of Schuchart, Austin McCarl, Skylar Gee and Henderson. Schuchart used the low side to get by Schatz and lead lap two, but Donny returned the favor on lap three. Meanwhile, Henderson took the fourth spot from Gee.
Six laps in Cale Thomas did a 360 spin that brought caution. Schatz led Schuchart, McCarl, Henderson and Lynton Jeffrey back to green. Henderson shot to third on that restart, and on lap 13, Axsom entered the picture, and passed McCarl for the fourth spot. Schatz was entering traffic on lap 14, and a circuit later, McCarl came to a stop on the backstretch.
Schatz paced the last ten laps ahead of Schuchart. Axsom gained third, but Henderson got the spot back on the final lap. Jeffrey finished fifth and will start eleventh in Saturday’s program. Cole Macedo, Spencer Bayston, Kaleb Johnson, Buddy Kofoid and Tanner Holmes rounded out the top ten. Seventy-nine of the 80 cars eligible for Friday’s program competed. Schuchart joined Schatz as a quick timer in his group, and Holmes, McCarl, Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Macedo and Thomas won heats. Ryan Timms won the C main and Chris Windom and Ayrton Gennetten claimed the B mains. McKenna Haase was involved in a scary crash in the heat race. She was taken to the hospital for observation.
“It wasn’t the prettiest,” said Schatz of his 30th win a Knoxville. “But it’s the Knoxville Nationals and sometimes you have to be lucky too. These Ford Motors run so good that sometimes you get to spinning the wheels and that’s what happened to us in the heat. These guys went to work on it and made some changes. We’re going to have to be a little better tomorrow to come through the field, but the first thing you’ve got to do is get in the show. This is our first Friday performance. Sometimes you have to use it to your advantage.”
“The biggest thing is that we’re in the show tomorrow,” said Schuchart. “We started 22nd in this thing before and made a charge, so that’s our goal. We’ll see how many cars we can pass tomorrow. The stress of just qualifying to make this thing is so tough. I would have liked to get a win tonight. I had Donny there in the beginning, and once I went to the top, he got back to the bottom and it was game over then unless we got to traffic. Cautions came out at the right time for him.”
“I feel like I learned a little bit from Emerson there,” said Henderson beside the Guy Forbrook #5x. “I changed my line a bit and was trying to be patient and smart all at the same time. We had a fantastic car here tonight. I’m extremely happy to run this car. I’m super happy to make the A main. This is the Knoxville Nationals and it obviously doesn’t get any better than this. There’s more stress in this race than any other.”
“We made the Knoxville Nationals,” said Axsom. “My stuff is really good. I felt like I was making really good laps there trailing Logan, and I was surprised Justin got back by us. I’m really happy with it, but I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet. We made a motor change tonight and it paid off. We struggled the last two nights with the 410. I’m really happy with this combination we have going on.”
Join us Saturday, August 10, for the finale of the 63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s! For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook.
A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Donny Schatz (1); 2. Logan Schuchart (2); 3. Justin Henderson (5); 4. Emerson Axsom (6); 5. Lynton Jeffrey (7); 6. Cole Macedo (14); 7. Spencer Bayston (15); 8. Kaleb Johnson (13); 9. Buddy Kofoid (17); 10. Tanner Holmes (9); 11. Skylar Gee (4); 12. Parker Price-Miller (22); 13. Hunter Schuerenberg (10); 14. Kasey Kahne (8); 15. Danny Dietrich (24); 16. Brenham Crouch (11); 17. Ayrton Gennetten (20); 18. Chris Windom (19); 19. JJ Hickle (23); 20. Cale Thomas (16); 21. Christopher Thram (18); 22. Sye Lynch (21); 23. Blake Hahn (12); 24. Austin McCarl (3).
Lap Leaders: Schatz 1, Schuchart 2, Schatz 3-25.
Hard-charger: Price-Miller.
Bill Wright | Knoxville Raceway
