Brad Sweet capped off a dominating week at Knoxville Raceway by winning the 58^th Annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores, to score the biggest victory of his career. On way to picking up the $150,000 payday, the native of Grass Valley, CA, led all but two laps of feature racing action that he competed in over the course of a six-day stretch. 

Sweet held off a furious charge by 10-time Knoxville Nationals winner Donny Schatz during a green-white-check, two-lap dash to the finish, following a late-race red flag. Schatz tried everything he could, with the final margin of victory being a scant 0.133 seconds, which made it the second-closest finish in Knoxville Nationals history. The event played to a sell-out crowd of over 21,000 fans.

Kyle Larson, who slipped by Sweet to lead two laps, just past the halfway fuel stop, ended up finishing third. Larson had a torrid battle with Schatz for the second spot for a large part of the race, while Sweet was able to open some large leads during those portions of the 50-lapper.

The Knoxville win was not only the first for Sweet as a driver in the sport’s biggest event, but also the first for his car owner Kasey Kahne.

“This is surreal,” said Sweet in Victory Lane. “I’ve been dreaming about this, working at this, my entire life,” Sweet said. “I am forever etched into the Knoxville Nationals history books. I think I held my breath. I really had to buckle down and hit the bottom the best I can. I couldn’t see (Donny Schatz), but I could hear him, I could hear a pitch of the engine on the outside of me. It doesn’t matter how much you win by as long as you win.”

The road to winning the Knoxville Nationals began for Sweet on August 5, when he won the Capitani Classis in impressive form. He led all 25 laps of that main event, after winning seven head-to-head match-races to earn the pole position for that race. Sweet followed that up by leading all 25 laps to win the second qualifying night feature, coming from sixth to first on the opening lap. That effort earned him the most event point and put him on the pole for Saturday night’s 50-lap finale.

A handful of additional honors were awarded on the final night of the Knoxville Nationals, including Sweet’s crew chief Eric Prutzman, being named the “Crew Chief of the Race.” Sweet pocked extra cash for earning the pole of the 50-lap race as well.

The “Best Dressed Crew” award went to the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 team and driver Carson Macedo. The California native also earned a cash bonus for winning the Jesse Hockett Mr. Sprint Car, which awarded points over all 10 nights of racing in Iowa, leading up to and including the Nationals.

Giovanni Scelzi, who became the youngest driver in Knoxville Nationals history to qualify for the main event, at the age of 16, was named the “Rookie of the Year.”

The “Best Appearing Car” award was won by the Stenhouse Jr/Marshall Racing team and driver Sheldon Haudenschild.

Night 1 Recap

The Nationals began with Greg Hodnett winning on the first night for the Pennsylvania Posse, followed by Tim Shaffer and Kyle Larson. Gio Scelzi, a 16-year-old rookie, finished a very impressive fourth to lock himself into Saturday’s main event. Donny Schatz, who had to run the B-main to advance to the preliminary feature, powered his way from 21^stto sixth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award.

The big story of the night was fast qualifier Logan Schuchart not going to the scales after winning the B-main. That mishap led to a disqualification, which prevented him from transferring to the preliminary feature. Schuchart would be forced to return to action on Friday in the “Hard Knox” portion of the racing program.

Night 2 Recap

Brad Sweet dominated the preliminary feature on the second night of the Nationals, with fellow Californian Rico Abreu in second. David Gravel finished third, but due to timing in 29^th-fastest in time trials, was 23^rdin event points, which put him in the B-main on Saturday night.

Chad Kemenah had a quiet, but solid night on Thursday, which put him second overall in event points and on the outside of the front row for the main event on Saturday night. The Ohio native was second-fastest in time trials and finished sixth in the preliminary feature.

Night 3

The Friday night portion of the Nationals, which has been dubbed “Hard Knox” for the last couple of years, saw Logan Schuchart get redemption for missing the scales on the opening night. Schuchart and Brian Brown, who had engine trouble earlier in the week, battled for the win, with the top-four finishes all transferring to the main event. Making the win even more emotional for Schuchart was the fact that his team owner/crew chief and Grandfather, Bobby Allen, was in the hospital with some health issues and missed the race.

Follow that pair, Paul McMahan ran third and Matt Juhl fourth to lock themselves in for the finale on Saturday night which paid a minimum of $9,500 to every starter.

Dominic Scelzi scored a very emotional win in the SPEED Sport World Challenge, which awarded a “Golden Ticket” to start 25^th, if won by a driver not yet locked in. Scelzi, who had mechanical troubles during a solid run on his qualifying night, was able to win the World Challenge to earn a spot in Saturday’s finale and join his brother Gio, as a rookie in the 50-lap race.