KNOXVILLE FLYIN’: Ryan Timms Captures First 360 Knoxville Nationals in Duel Against Reutzel
Ryan Timms has become a master of the biggest events at Knoxville Raceway.
The driver of the Liebig Motorsports No. 10 showed his prowess in the 36th Xtream powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals by leading all 30 laps while keeping the top drivers in Sprint Car racing at bay to become the second-youngest driver to win the crown jewel of the American Sprint Car Series.
“It’s unbelievable,” Timms said. “I was just as nervous, maybe even more nervous than I was for the 410 race last year. These 360s, they’re so hard to win here in Knoxville with how momentum-based they are. There’s not many guys that can say they’ve won either one, let alone both of them, so it’s cool.”
The Oklahoma City, OK native began the Feature from the Pole Position with 2022 winner Aaron Reutzel to his outside. On the opening lap, Timms jumped ahead of Reutzel with an advantage around the bottom lane of the 1/2-mile as James McFadden challenged Reutzel for second place.
As Timms began to stretch his lead by using the bottom lane, McFadden took the runner-up spot as Reutzel attempted multiple lines to build momentum towards the two drivers. Using the cushion, Reutzel retook the position on Lap 5 as Timms adjusted his driving towards the cushion before lapped traffic appeared.
Reutzel closed back in for the lead on Lap 10 as the traffic blocked Timms from using the preferred lanes around Knoxville. Instead, “Flyin’ Ryan” got creative and squeezed through the middle to build a buffer as Reutzel had a second fight for his spot in the form of Friday winner Tyler Courtney – giving Timms a 1.6-second advantage as the halfway signal was shown.
When Reutzel had clearance from the lapped cars, he worked the bottom lane to shorten the distance to Timms as the circuits around the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” began to wind down towards the finish.
With no lapped cars ahead, Reutzel reached the back bumper of Timms with six laps remaining as the 19-year-old encountered the final pack of lapped traffic. Stuck on the bottom lane, Timms struggled to make forward momentum as the Ridge & Sons Racing No. 87 reached his back bumper.
With two laps remaining, Timms caught the back of Kyler Johnson into Turn 1 as Reutzel followed suit. With the three drivers caught in a logjam, Reutzel smacked the rear end of Timms through the corner, but the two drivers continued to roll and keep fighting for the victory.
As the white flag flew, Timms drove to the cushion as Reutzel kept his car to the bottom lane. While Reutzel made a final charge in the final seconds, Timms earned the win by 0.167 seconds to join Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell as the only drivers to win both the 360 Nationals and NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals pres. by Casey’s.
“I wasn’t sure where to run the whole race, really,” Timms said. “I didn’t know what was working. Once we got to lap traffic, I assumed that was probably the 87 that ran into the back of me. I was running the top the whole time, then I guess the top started going away. I struggled to hit the bottom for whatever reason, but there’s lapped cars everywhere.
“They were running the bottom, then I saw Aaron get to my inside once, so I figured he was making ground on the bottom. I was really unsure if I should just fall in line and follow them. It wasn’t my best effort in lap traffic for sure, but it was a good blocking effort, and I’m glad I blocked that guy.”
Reutzel drove to the finish in second, and Friday winner Tyler Courtney rounded out the podium. Kyle Larson took a fourth-place result, and McFadden completed the top five.
Recap Notes:
E-Main Winner: Josh Weller
D-Main Winner: Jamie Bell
C-Main Winner: Evan Semerad
Last Chance Showdown Winner: Rico Abreu
Rookie of the Year: Austin Wood
Hard Charger Award: Rico Abreu (+9)
UP NEXT: The American Sprint Car Series will make one final stop in Arkansas for the 2026 season with Riverside International Speedway hosting the King of the Ditch II on Saturday, Aug. 22.
Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS: Feature (30 Laps): 1. 10-Ryan Timms[1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[7]; 5. 21T-James McFadden[4]; 6. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 7. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[8]; 8. 9-Chase Randall[11]; 9. 11-Justin Henderson[6]; 10. 14-Corey Day[16]; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri[9]; 12. 14TSR-Rico Abreu[21]; 13. 22X-Riley Goodno[15]; 14. 31-Brady Bacon[10]; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[12]; 16. 55-Kerry Madsen[19]; 17. 71P-Parker Price Miller[24]; 18. 44-Chris Martin[23]; 19. 26-Justin Peck[22]; 20. 24-Terry McCarl[17]; 21. 9P-Daison Pursley[14]; 22. 2A-Austin Wood[13]; 23. 45X-Kyler Johnson[20]; 24. 4J-Ryan Leavitt[18]
