The Knoxville Nationals has been a prestigious event running through several decades at this point in time. Winning at this great event often brings great joy for the drivers, considering it is notoriously difficult to do so, given the extraordinary talents that come to race each year. For Kyle Larson, it had been a dream to win at the event ever since he was 13 years old and had his first taste of racing here. It was in 2021 when Larson finally achieved that dream, taking home the checkered at the 60th running of the race.
Advertisement
Fast forward to this year, the event is back underway, and so is Larson. This time around, the 2021 Cup champ has managed to get himself the pole for the race. Starting from such an advantageous position, all eyes will be on the Hendrick Motorsports driver, with a $185,000 prize at the end of the event.
Kyle Larson explains being impatient ahead of the main race
Speaking ahead of the main race and after qualifying for the pole, Larson said, “I think I just was a little too impatient. The first few laps to let the track kind of come into its own… I thought I was being too patient. But I was really being impatient, and then when it was time to be impatient, I was too patient and just got my lines kind of mixed up.”
“And kind of just ran a little bit of a sloppy race there. The first majority of it honestly, probably more than the first half, and then the caution just kind of worked out for me…”
UDPB: @KyleLarsonRacin runs 2nd in his prelim night at the Knoxville Nationals. He will start on the pole Saturday night for the A-Main. A great honor but wants to add his name to the short list of multi-time winners. #NOSvilleNationals pic.twitter.com/hdUqFLaG8I
— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) August 11, 2023
Larson wants to be in the Knoxville Nationals multi-winners elite list
When asked about becoming a two-time winner here, the HMS driver mentioned, “There is a short list of guys with one race, but a much shorter list with guys who have won multiple times so yeah, it’d be amazing.”
“It’s not gonna be easy by any means. So there’s a lot of great cars great drivers. A lot of great cars and great drivers that are gonna be out on Friday night. So just happy to have a solid night tonight and hopefully, we can do it on Saturday.”
There are very few drivers who have two or more wins at the Knoxville Nationals across its sixty-year history. Steve Kinser sits atop the list of such elite drivers, having won the race 12 times.
After him, there’s Donny Schatz who has won here 11 times. He is followed by Doug Wolfgang with 5 wins, Danny Lasoski and Kenny Weld with four wins, and Mark Kinser, who has three wins to his name. So can Larson add himself to the Elite list as well?
