Larson Headlines Thursday Knoxville Prelim-Night Field

Kyle Larson is the key driver to watch in Thursday's Knoxville Nationals preliminary night field. (Trent Gower photo)

By Jacob Seelman, SWN News Editor

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 12, 2026) – Even though he likely won’t be in the field for Saturday’s 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals finale feature, barring divine intervention from Mother Nature, three-time event champion Kyle Larson headlines the pool of entries for Thursday’s Toyota Qualifying Night program at the Marion County Fairgrounds.

Larson, who won the Knoxville Nationals in 2021, 2023, and 2024, will pilot his familiar Silva Motorsports No. 57 ride in preliminary night action, but will have to tend to his NASCAR Cup Series duties for Hendrick Motorsports on Saturday at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and thus won’t be in the main event if he locks in on points at the end of Thursday’s festivities.

The only way that would change is by either an early rainout of NASCAR action at Richmond, allowing Larson to fly to Iowa, or a rainout at Knoxville that pushes the championship day program to Sunday.

Still, however, there are financial incentives for Larson to compete at a high level and chase another prelim-night victory. Thursday’s 25-lapper pays $12,000 to win, and it’s another $15,000 for the team to start Saturday evening – even with another driver at the controls – if Larson locks the No. 57 in.

Among the other 51 cars besides Larson hoping to also punch their ticket directly to Saturday’s $200,000-to-win championship feature are four-time Knoxville Raceway 410 sprint car champion Austin McCarl; High Limit Racing regulars Tyler Courtney, Brenham Crouch, and Daison Pursley; current World of Outlaws stars Spencer Bayston, Logan Schuchart, and Carson Macedo; and 2013 Outlaws champion Daryn Pittman, who is now semi-retired but wheeling the Kreitz Racing No. 69K in what could be the team’s final attempt at The Grandaddy of Them All.

Three JETCO Rookie of the Year contenders – Will Armitage, Levi Hillier, and Garrett Benson – will make their first Knoxville Nationals prelim-night attempts during the Thursday program.

Hot laps are slated for 6:45 p.m. Central time Thursday evening, with live coverage all week long available on DIRTvision through either an annual subscription or a single-event pay-per-view purchase.

The format pays points every time a driver hits the racetrack, with 200 points for fast time, decreasing by two per position throughout the field. Heat races line up with an invert of eight, paying out 100 points to the winners and decreasing by three per position. The top four in each heat make the A-Main.

Feature points again pay 200 to the winner, decreasing by two per position back through the field.

Combined points from qualifying, heat race, and feature finish (A, B, or C-Main) help determine the drivers locked into Saturday’s championship feature, with the top 16 drivers in combined points between Wednesday’s and Thursday’s preliminary programs guaranteed into the finale A-Main.

Sheldon Haudenschild won Wednesday night’s feature in a thrilling photo finish and currently stands as the high-point earner with 481 points. A perfect score, consisting of fast time, a heat-race win, and the feature victory, is 500 points.

Thursday’s entry list is below: