Preliminaries for the 61st Knoxville Nationals had proven once again to be no run-of-the-mill affair on Thursday, as Jacob Allen of Hanover, Pa., outlasted two of the nation's top Sprint Car drivers in Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo for the second qualifying night victory at the legendary event.

With the win, Shark Racing moves to a perfect three-for-three at the famed half-mile this week. Logan Schuchart won Sunday's Capitani Classic and Wednesday's preliminary opener.

Unlike Schuchart, though, Allen's first Knoxville victory of any kind locked him into Saturday's 50-lap grand finale.

"Right now, I'm just soaking in tonight. Obviously locking in for Saturday's race is huge. It's a great accomplishment. I've only done it one other time. That definitely means a lot. Proud about that for sure, but as of right now I'm soaking in tonight. Winning here at Knoxville — first Knoxville win — just an amazing feeling. When you look up at the crowd, everybody's here for this week. All the hype and the competition. Logan winning his prelim night, and then me starting on the front row (of the prelim), I just wanted it so bad.

"And to be able to put together 25 good laps, get through lapped traffic good — hold off Brad once he passed me, to get back by him, and finish the race ahead of him is something I feel very, very proud of. I'm proud about my season, but to come to Knoxville with the track being slick and just ... there's a lot to Knoxville. It's a technical racetrack. But to feel good on the bottom, feel good on the top, get through lapped cars good, I'm very proud about all that."

Allen led all 25 laps from the outside pole and topped Sweet, the 2018 Knoxville Nationals champion, by 0.754 seconds.

Knoxville regular Austin McCarl emerged as the high point man and polesitter of Saturday's 50-lap with his 477-point performance on Thursday.

Knoxville regular Austin McCarl will lead the 61st Knoxville Nationals to green on Saturday.

The rest of the top-16 starters for Saturday's main event are Tyler Courtney, Donny Schatz, David Gravel, Carson Macedo, Kyle Larson, Brent Marks, Daryn Pittman, Brad Sweet, JJ Hickle, Allen, Parker Price-Miller, Justin Sanders, Buddy Kofoid, Tasker Phillips and Aaron Reutzel.

Gio Scelzi, Schuchart, Lynton Jeffrey, Zeb Wise, James McFadden, Justin Peck, Cole Macedo, Ian Madsen, Kasey Kahne and Tim Kaeding are the 10 drivers locked into Saturday's B-main.

All other drivers — namely former USAC champions Chris Windom and Brady Bacon, the nation's winningest Sprint Car driver Anthony Macri, Sheldon Haudenschild, Brian Brown, Rico Abreu, Sammy Swindell, Spencer Bayston and Kerry Madsen — will have a fresh slate on Friday's Hard Knox qualifying night, where the top four finishers from the A-main will earn the 21st through 24th starting spots in Saturday's grand finale.

Friday's Hard Knox consists of split-field qualifying, with six heats inverted by four, a C-main, two B-mains and the Hard Knox 25-lap feature.

Feature finish

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 (12)
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 (DNS)

Feature lineup

🚨 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗨𝗣 🚨

Who’s your pick to win Thursday’s preliminary at the 61st @NosEnergyDrink Knoxville Nationals presented by @CaseysGenStore?! 👇 pic.twitter.com/ABpvrzh6PP

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) August 12, 2022

Heat results

(10 laps, top-four transfer)

Heat one (started): Dylan Cisney (2), Jacob Allen (4), Cale Thomas (3), Carson Macedo (6), Tanner Carrick (1), Tasker Phillips (8), Carson McCarl (5), Spencer Bayston (7), Skylar Gee (9), Tyler Drueke (10)

Heat two (started): Zach Hampton (1), Kasey Kahne (3), Zeb Wise (4), Lynton Jeffrey (5), Matt Juhl (6), Buddy Kofoid (8), Kyle Larson (7), Bobby Mincer (2), Chad Kemenah (10) DNS: Kerry Madsen.

Heat three (started): JJ Hickle (6), Logan Wagner (2), Brad Sweet (5), Chris Windom (4), Brooke Tatnell (7), Daryn Pittman (8), TJ Stutts (3), Chris Martin (1), Josh Higday (9), Matt Wasmund (10)

Heat four (started): Brian Brown (1), Tim Kaeding (4), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2), Tyler Courtney (8), Anthony Macri (7), Kraig Kinser (3), Harli White (5), Sammy Swindell (6), Bill Rose (9), Alan Gilbertson (10)

Heat five (started): Jack Dover (1), Noah Gass (2), Bill Balog (3), Austin McCarl (8), Rico Abreu (5), Ryan Roberts (4), Sye Lynch (7), Thomas Kennedy (6), Greg Wilson (9)

Thursday PTS after Heats (Main-Start):

285 Courtney (A-8)
285 Phillips (B-1)
283 McCarl (A-7)
283 Kofoid (B-2)
281 Pittman (B-3)
276 Hickle (A-5)
274 Tatnell (B-6)
272 Macri (B-7)
271 Macedo (A-6)
270 Larson (B-5)
269 Bayston (B-4)
266 Juhl (B-9)
264 Lynch (B-8)
260 Sweet (A-3)

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) August 12, 2022

Heat lineups

👇 Thursday’s #NOSvilleNationals Heat Race Lineups: pic.twitter.com/I5yDkQHYDR

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) August 12, 2022

Knoxville regular Tasker Phillips of Pleasantville, Iowa, raced to fast qualifier Thursday with a lap of 15.407 seconds. Buddy Kofoid, Daryn Pittman, Tyler Courtney, Austin McCarl, Spencer Bayston, Kyle Larson, Brooke Tatnell, Anthony Macri and Sye Lynch were the top 10.

Carson Macedo placed 11th, while Sammy Swindell went 14th. 2018 Knoxville Nationals champion Brad Sweet timed 18th, as Rico Abreu went 20th. Four-time Knoxville Raceway champion Brian Brown timed 39th of 49 cars that took a qualifying lap.

Qualifying order

We have 50 cars officially entered for Thursday Qualifying Night #2 of the 61st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s! #NOSvilleNationals pic.twitter.com/IcMkaLBzv7

— Knoxville Raceway (@knoxvilleraces) August 11, 2022

Thursday's roster

We have 51 cars pre-entered for Night #2 of the 61st @NosEnergyDrink Knoxville Nationals presented by @caseysgenstore!!! #NOSvilleNationals pic.twitter.com/6LfX4ztx5r

— Knoxville Raceway (@knoxvilleraces) August 11, 2022

Format

Every time a driver takes the racing surface during qualifying night, minus hot laps of course, points are accumulated upon performance that ultimately help set the lineup for Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals main event.

The top 16 in combined points from qualifying nights on Wednesday and Thursday are locked in to Saturday’s 50-lap grand finale. Teams 17th through 26th in points are awarded the first 10 positions in Saturday’s B-main. The rest of the field, meanwhile, will then be relegated to Friday’s Hard Knox qualifying night.

Qualifying

Two-hundred points are on the table for quick time, with 198 for second, 196 for third and so forth.

Heats

There’s an eight-car inversion for the heats, with the top-four finishers advancing to the 25-lap semifeature. Fifth through eighth go to the B-main and ninth through 10th to the C-main.

One-hundred points are awarded to each 10-lap heat race winner, with a three-point reduction for each following position (re: 97, 94, 91, 88, etc.).

C-main

In the C-main, the top-four finishers tag the rear of the B-main. Fifth place in the C-main is worth 92 pts., with sixth worth 90 points and so forth.

B-main

In the B-main, the top-four finishers transfer to the tail of the A-main. The B-main awards 142 points for fifth, 140 for sixth and so forth.

A-main

The 25-lap semifeature will invert eight cars, with points being the same as time trials (200, 198, 196, etc.).

Tiebreakers go as follows: finishing position in respective main event, followed by time trial finish.

A perfect score — quick time, a heat win and feature win — is 500.

Thursday’s schedule

(All times local)

8 a.m. - Knoxville Raceway ticket office opens
8 a.m. - National Sprint Car Hall of Fame opens
10 a.m. - Vendors open
10 a.m.-3 p.m. - Bryan Clauson Suite Tower tours
12 p.m. - Food vendors open
1 p.m. - Autograph sessions at NSCHoF
2 p.m. - Pit gate opens
3 p.m. - Autograph sessions at NSCHoF
5 p.m. - Kyle Larson champion pole unveiling along fan walk
5:30 p.m. - Grandstands open
6 p.m. - Winged Nation on the Hercules Tire Entertainment Stage
7:15 - On-track activity begins
Hot laps
Time trials
Five heats
C-main
B-main
25-lap semifeature