Lonnie Wheatley, KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 12, 2022) – Shark attacks are a rarity in Iowa lest you land amid some of the surrounding lakes.

But it has happened over the past two nights as Shark Racing teammates Logan Schuchart and Jacob Allen have topped the opening two nights of qualifying action at the 61^st Annual Knoxville Nationals at Marion County’s ½-mile Knoxville Raceway clay oval.

Schuchart held off Knoxville king Donny Schatz to win Wednesday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature before Allen fought off reigning World of Outlaws kingpin and current points leader Brad Sweet to top Thursday night’s 25-lapper.

With a point system in which only two of the top 20 qualifiers made their to the “A” Main through Wednesday’s heat race action and then 6 of 20 from Thursday’s heats, Schuchart finds himself on the front row of Saturday night’s “B” Main while Allen starts inside the sixth row of the “A” Main.

Topping the point charts and leading the way to the green flag of Saturday night’s “A” Main will be Austin McCarl, who worked his way to a fourth-place finish in Thursday’s feature after timing in fifth and then hustling his way to fourth in heat race action to secure a feature starting berth of seventh.

McCarl will be flanked by fellow Thursday feature starter Tyler Courtney.  The reigning All Star Circuit of Champions champion finished off Thursday in seventh after a qualifying effort of fourth and then a fourth-place finish in heat race action.

Gunning for an 11^th Knoxville Nationals title, Donny Schatz will fire off third in Saturday’s finale after topping Wednesday’s point charts.

Wednesday Feature Results:

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Logan Schuchart (1); 2. Donny Schatz (7); 3. David Gravel (8); 4. Gio Scelzi (3); 5. James McFadden (2); 6. Aaron Reutzel (6); 7. Justin Peck (4); 8. Cole Macedo (5); 9. Corey Day (12); 10. Roger Crockett (11); 11. Hunter Schuerenberg (13); 12. Parker Price-Miller (21); 13. Brent Marks (22); 14. Colby Copeland (9); 15. Justin Sanders (24); 16. Kyle Reinhardt (17); 17. Carson Short (16); 18. Scotty Thiel (19); 19. Mike Wagner (15); 20. Lachlan McHugh (10); 21. Mark Dobmeier (20); 22. Ian Madsen (23); 23. Davey Heskin (14); 24. Brandon Wimmer (18). Lap Leader: Schuchart 1-25. Hard-charger: Price-Miller.

Thursday Feature Results:

A main (started), 25 Laps, 7:27.6: 1. Jacob Allen (2); 2. Brad Sweet (3); 3. Carson Macedo (6); 4. Austin McCarl (7); 5. Kyle Larson (22); 6. Zeb Wise (1); 7. Tyler Courtney (8); 8. Kasey Kahne (12); 9. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 10. JJ Hickle (5); 11. Tim Kaeding (10); 12. Daryn Pittman (21); 13. Chris Windom (9); 14. Dylan Cisney (14); 15. Brian Brown (19); 16. Buddy Kofoid (24); 17. Noah Gass (17); 18. Tasker Phillips (23); 19. Bill Balog (13); 20. Cale Thomas (11); 21. Zach Hampton (18); 22. Logan Wagner (15); 23. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (16); 24. Jack Dover (20). Lap Leader: Allen 1-25. Hard-charger: Larson.

Twenty-six drivers can rest easy on Friday night with 16 locked into Saturday’s “A” Main and another ten into the front ten positions of the “B” Main.  The rest will battle it out in Friday’s “Hard Knox” card.

“A” Main Lock-Ins.

1. 88-Austin McCarl 477
2. 7bc-Tyler Courtney 473
3. 15-Donny Schatz 469
4. 2-David Gravel 469
5. 41-Carson Macedo 467
6. 57-Kyle Larson 462
7. 19-Brent Marks 462
8. 27h-Daryn Pittman 459
9. 49-Brad Sweet 458
10. 25-J.J. Hickle 458
11. 1a-Jacob Allen 457
12. 11m-Parker Price-Miller 457
13. 39-Justin Sanders 456
14. 11x-Buddy Kofoid 453
15. 7taz-Tasker Phillips 451
16. 8-Aaron Reutzel 447

“B” Main Lock-Ins:

1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi 445
2. 1s-Logan Schuchart 444
3. 2k-Lynton Jeffrey 443
4. 26-Zeb Wise 442
5. 83-James McFadden 441
6. 13-Justin Peck 441
7. 14J-Cole Macedo 435
8. 2ka-Ian Madsen 434
9. 9-Kasey Kahne 431
10. 3TK-Tim Kaeding 431