The 2026 NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's officially gets rolling Wednesday with the first of two preliminary nights at Knoxville Raceway. 

The 48-driver field features defending champion Ryan Timms, 11-time winner Donny Schatz, 2019 champion David Gravel and a mix of established contenders like Rico Abreu, Corey Day and Sheldon Haudenschild — plus dark horses and six Nationals rookies. 

Here’s a look at Wednesday’s roster, career Nationals statistics and notable storylines to follow as drivers begin positioning themselves for Saturday’s $200,000-to-win finale.

• Understanding The Knoxville Nationals Format

Wednesday Knoxville Nationals Prerace Notes

• Donny Schatz believes the engine change following Sunday’s Capitani Classic time trials — which helped spur his 22nd-to-10th charge — gives him a boost entering Wednesday: “Not sure we found anything big, just found a motor that should get us in the game hopefully,” he told FloRacing.

• David Gravel is trying to rebound from three straight Knoxville Nationals A-main starts of 19th or worse and capture the long-awaited first Knoxville crown jewel for car owner Tod Quiring and Big Game Motorsports. 

• Six Knoxville Nationals rookies are entered Wednesday: Rees Moran, Jy Corbet, Joel Myers Jr., Darin Naida, Steven Snyder Jr. and Rodney Huband. Moran has a best finish of fifth in 15 Knoxville starts this year and is coming off a pair of top-10 runs with the Outlaws at Pevely, while Snyder makes his Nationals debut with Three Stooges Racing after charging from 16th to sixth in Monday’s Front Row Challenge.

• Justin Henderson is a dark horse worth watching in his 20th straight Nationals appearance. The six-time A-main qualifier finished seventh against the World of Outlaws at Knoxville earlier this season — his first Outlaw top-10 in three years — and was 16th in Sunday’s Capitani Classic.

• Kelby Watt is another potential sleeper after finishing 14th in Sunday's Capitani Classic. He's steadily progressing through Nationals week the last three years, going from ninth in the 2023 C-main to 11th in the 2024 D-main and 24th in last year’s B-main. 

• Chris Windom might be Wednesday’s most intriguing driver without a Nationals A-main start. He fell just one point short of the prelim lock-in last year and enters this week fresh off his first World of Outlaws victory Friday at Pevely and a 20th-to-14th Capitani Classic charge.

• Rico Abreu has put himself in prime position at the Nationals three straight years, starting second, sixth and seventh in the Nationals A-main. He finished a career-best second to Ryan Timms last year and just finished second Sunday to Kyle Larson in the Capitani Classic.

• Sheldon Haudenschild has quietly become one of the Knoxville Nationals’ most consistent performers, carrying six straight A-main top-10 finishes into Wednesday — seventh, 10th, eighth, 10th, ninth and 10th — despite never finishing better than seventh.

• Giovanni Scelzi has never missed the Knoxville Nationals A-main, qualifying in all seven of his attempts. The 2024 runner-up rallied from 14th to seventh last year, tying his largest charge in a Nationals finale, and isn't long removed from a $100,000 victory in the Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal.

• Sammy Swindell is making his 50th and final Knoxville Nationals appearance. The 1988 champion has qualified for 34 A-mains and owns 50 career Knoxville victories.

• Chase Dietz enters Wednesday as the winningest 410 Sprint Car driver in the country with 18 victories this season, though he's still chasing his first Knoxville Nationals A-main after finishing 20th in last year's B-main.

• Steven Snyder Jr. has quickly emerged as a driver to watch despite his lack of winged Knoxville experience. In his first four races with Three Stooges Racing, the Rising Sun, Md., youngster went 20th and 14th against the Outlaws at Pevely before charging from 16th to sixth and challenging James McFadden for a top-five finish in Monday’s Front Row Challenge.

2026 Knoxville Nationals Wednesday Qualifying Night Roster