WHAT TO WATCH FOR: 35th 360 Knoxville Nationals Hosts ASCS Regulars, Past Champs, Local Talent

The biggest 360 Sprint Car event in the world is here. The 35th annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank goes green this weekend with a loaded roster of talent ready to battle for a possible $35,000 payday at Knoxville Raceway.

The three-day program spans Thursday–Saturday, July 31– Aug. 2 and begins with back-to-back preliminary night programs on Thursday–Friday. All drivers have been split into either Thursday or Friday’s preliminary program and will accumulate points for finishes in the qualifying and Feature events throughout the night. At the conclusion of Friday’s program, the top 20 drivers in event points will be locked into Saturday’s main event, while all other drivers will race the lower mains and vie for one of the final four transfer spots into the 30-lap, $20,000-to-win main event.

Each lap of Saturday night’s main event is worth an extra $500 for the leader of that lap, making for a possible $35,000 payday should the race winner lead all 30 circuits around the historic 1/2-mile oval.

Tickets for the event are on sale now at the link below and will also be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

360 NATIONALS TICKETS

Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:

TEAM ASCS — The stars of the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) are set to take on an extra-large field of different contenders this weekend, ranging from Knoxville’s weekly competitors, various national 410 Sprint Car standouts and a slew of past champions. They’ll carry the ASCS flag with pride and represent the best in touring 360 Sprint Car racing.

Sam Hafertepe Jr. is the national ASCS points leader, currently riding one of the biggest hot streaks of his career with five wins in the last five Series events. The five-time Series champion from Sunnyvale, TX, has won four times in his career at Knoxville, including three 360 Nationals preliminary night Features in 2021, 2022 and 2024. He has never won on Saturday night in the marquee event, but was runner-up in the finale on two occasions, finishing second to Brian Brown in 2014 and Aaron Reutzel in 2022.

Blake Hahn currently sits second in the national ASCS points standings, coming off a runner-up finish last Saturday at Missouri’s Benton Speedway. The two-time Series champion from Sapulpa, OK, has never been to Victory Lane at The Sprint Car Capital of the World, but notched a top-five finish in a 410 Knoxville Nationals preliminary night Feature in 2023. His best 360 Nationals finish came in 2021, when he finished 16th in the finale.

Matt Covington ranks third in the current championship points standings and is one of only five drivers to win in national ASCS competition through the first 14 races on the schedule. The multi-time ASCS regional champion from Glenpool, OK, has a best career finish of third at the iconic half-mile oval — twice — which came in Midwest Power Series competition in 2022 and weekly action this past May. His best finish in the 360 Nationals finale was an 11th-place result one year ago.

Jason Martin has yet to reach Victory Lane with the Series through the first 14 races of 2025 but has a second-best five podium finishes among all drivers (tied with Hahn). His best 360 Nationals preliminary Feature finish came in 2023, when he ran sixth after starting on the outside pole. He’s made the main event on Saturday twice in his career, with results of 21st (2017) and 22nd (2023).

KNOXVILLE’S FINEST — Knoxville Raceway is home to a host of weekly 360 Sprint Car competitors chasing one of the most prestigious track championships for Sprint Cars in the entire country.

Tasker Phillips is the current track points leader and has been the standout driver in weekly 360 competition this year, winning three Features so far, including the most recent event last Saturday night. The Pleasantville, IA-native has a best career 360 Nationals finish of sixth, which came in the finale one year ago.

Clint Garner is second to almost nobody in accomplishments in 360 Sprint Car racing at Knoxville. The nine-time track champion from Sioux Falls, SD, is second on the track’s all-time 360 Feature wins list with 48 — the most recent of which came on May 3 — and is the 2017 360 Nationals winner. He currently sits second in track points standings.

Tyler Groenendyk has the second-most Feature wins (2) in weekly 360 competition so far this season and currently sits third in the track points standings. The 2021 Knoxville Pro Sprints track champion from Oskaloosa, IA, qualified for the 360 Nationals main event for the first time in his career one year ago and started seventh on the grid before dropping out and suffering a DNF.

Jamie Ball is a former 360 Nationals preliminary night Feature winner, taking the checkers on opening night of the 2016 edition of the event. The Knoxville, IA-native clinched his first career Knoxville track championship in the 360 Sprint Car division last year and currently sits tied for ninth on the track’s all-time 360 Feature wins with 11. His best 360 Nationals main event finish came in 2017, when he ran fifth.

410 INVASION — A host of current national 410 Sprint Car stars have pre-entered into 360 competition this weekend in the effort to get more laps turned at the track before the 410 Knoxville Nationals commences next week.

Leading those stars is none other than the three-time and defending 410 Knoxville Nationals champion, Kyle Larson. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, CA, has dominated Knoxville’s signature event in each of the past two years, leading all 50 laps to win both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the dirt crown jewel behind the wheel of car owner Paul Silva’s signature No. 57. Larson last raced the 360 Nationals in 2022 and finished 11th, and notched his best career finish of third in the 2013 edition to Kevin Swindell and winner Shane Stewart.

Rico Abreu has been one of national 410 Sprint Car racing’s most dominant drivers in 2025 with 10 Feature wins totaled. The 33-year-old from St. Helena, CA, has been strong at Knoxville this season as well, winning three of his five main event starts including one weekly 410 Feature in April, one with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and a third coming last Saturday night with a 360c.i. engine under the hood. His lone 360 Nationals start came in 2023, when he climbed from last place (24th) on the starting grid all the way up to a third-place finish in the main event.

Brad Sweet has not entered the 360 Nationals in over a decade but will return to the roster in 2025 in pursuit of his sixth Sprint Car win of the season. The 39-year-old from Grass Valley, CA, won the 410 Knoxville Nationals in 2018, and is one name on a special list of drivers to have won multiple marquee events at Knoxville in two different car types, having also won the Midget Knoxville Nationals in 2008. The five-time World of Outlaws champion has made three starts at Knoxville with the Outlaws this season, resulting in finishes of ninth, 10th and fifth.

Before February, Justin Peck had never made a start with the American Sprint Car Series apart from his first two career 360 Nationals appearances in 2023 and 2024. But after a three-race sweep of the 2025 national ASCS season opener at Volusia Speedway Park, the Monrovia, IN-native will return to the 360 Sprint Car circuit this weekend, driving the Rudeen Racing No. 26, trying to better a career-best 13th-place finish in the 360 Nationals last year.

CHAMPIONS OF NATIONALS PAST — Several past 360 Nationals champions have pre-entered for the event, representing those who have conquered The Sprint Car Capital of the World with the big check on the line.

Terry McCarl has won the 360 Nationals main event a record five times in his career — an accolade he shares with 2009 American Sprint Car Series champion Shane Stewart. The 60-year-old from Altoona, IA, has long been one of Knoxville’s greatest drivers, capturing seven 410 track championships, one 360 track championship, 59 Feature wins in a 410 and 13 in a 360. He has not been to Victory Lane at the track so far this season but sits seventh in points with three top-five finishes, looking to better his 10th-place result in the 360 Nationals main event one year ago.

Gio Scelzi leads storylines in multiple categories coming into the weekend as both a 410 invader and a past 360 Nationals champion. The 23-year-old from Fresno, CA, two weeks ago ended his five-year tenure with Iowa-based KCP Racing, who have followed the World of Outlaws circuit since 2023, and has since joined Clauson Marshall Racing as the pilot of their flagship No. 7BC — the same car and team that won the 360 Nationals one year ago. Scelzi, a winner of the 360 Nationals himself in 2021, enters the 360 Nationals this weekend for the first time since a 10th-place finish driving the KCP No. 18 in 2022.

Brian Brown is another of Knoxville’s finest exports with 69 career 410 Feature wins (second on the all-time track wins list), 18 wins in a 360, five 410 track championships and the 2002 360 track championship. The two-time 360 Nationals champion from Higginsville MO, has been to Victory Lane at the track three times already this season and comes into the weekend trying to better his fourth-place finish in the main event from one year ago.

Kerry Madsen and James McFadden are two of the most established Australian 410 Sprint Car names in the field this weekend also carrying their flags as past 360 Nationals champions. Madsen, 53, a resident of Knoxville, is the 2005 Knoxville 410 track champion who won the 360 Nationals in 2020. McFadden, 36, of Alice Springs, NT, captured his lone 360 Nationals title the year prior to Madsen in 2019, and returns to the 360 field piloting the California-based Tarlton Racing No. 21T this weekend.

FRESH MEAT — Several new faces to the 360 Nationals are in the field this weekend, trying to make a name for themselves and claim the $500 bonus as JETCO Rookie of the Race.

Kaylee Bryson made her first career start at Knoxville on May 30, driving a third entry for Clint Garner Racing. The 24-year-old from Muskogee, OK, has spent the last several seasons bouncing around in several different motorsports disciplines since her departure from the full-time national Midget ranks following the 2022 season, making starts in everything from TransAm cars on road courses, Dirt Late Models, Champ Cars, Three-Quarter Midgets, and her most recent venture with Stock Cars, making her ARCA Menards Series debut at Sonoma Raceway two weeks ago. She’ll return to the seat of the Clint Garner Racing No. 11B at Knoxville this weekend.

Chase Dietz is joining the party and representing the Pennsylvania Posse in Knoxville this weekend for the first time in his career. The 25-year-old from York, PA, will return to the track for the first time since his debut at the 410 Nationals in 2023, this time driving his own car and 360c.i. engine under the hood. Dietz has done well against the Pennsylvania regulars this season, capturing six checkered flags combined at tracks including Lincoln Speedway, Port Royal Speedway, Selinsgrove Speedway and Path Valley Speedway Park.

Brandon Spithaler has raced Knoxville before, but never in August. The 33-year-old from Butler, PA, made his debut at the track in July 2018 with the All Star Circuit of Champions and spent seven years away before making his return this past April with the World of Outlaws. His 2025 season has been comprised of mostly Ohio and Western Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Car starts, which have produced two wins at Lernerville Speedway and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.

Ryder Laplante is one of four teenage racers competing for the national ASCS Rookie of the Year title and this weekend makes his first-ever visit to Knoxville. The 18-year-old from Calera, OK, currently sits third in the ROTY points standings with four top-10 finishes through the first 14 races on the schedule.

Daison Pursley has won at Knoxville in Non-Wing Sprint Car competition before and will try for his first with the wing on this weekend. The 20-year-old from Locust Grove, OK, took the checkered in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Sprint Car Championship event known as the Cornbelt Clash at the track in June 2024. This weekend, he’ll pilot the Buch Motorsports No. 13 in his first starts with ASCS since the season opener at Volusia in February.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

WHEN AND WHERE
Thursday–Saturday, July 31–Aug. 2 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, IA

TRACK FACTS

• 1/2-mile, semi-banked oval
• Track Record: 15.520 seconds set by Joe Beaver on June 15, 2013 

ON THE INTERNET
X — @ASCSRacing
Instagram — @ascs_racing
Facebook — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
YouTube — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
DIRTVision — DIRTVision.com (Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month)

CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (14/34 Races)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1689pts)
2. Blake Hahn 1516pts (–173)
3. Matt Covington 1487pts (–202)
4. Jason Martin 1416pts (–273)
5. Garrett Benson 1300pts (–389)
6. Brady Baker 1286pts (–403)
7. Austyn Gossel 1283pts (–406)
8. Zach Blurton 1267pts (–422)
9. Kyler Johnson 1264pts (–425)
10. Landon Britt 1235pts (–454)

 FEATURE WINNERS (5 Drivers):

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8 wins)
2. Justin Peck (3 wins)
3. Matt Covington, Zach Blurton, Blake Hahn (1 win)

FEATURE LAPS LED (8 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (173 laps)
2. Justin Peck (65 laps)
3. Matt Covington (55 laps)
4. Zach Blurton (25 laps)
5. Brian Brown (15 laps)
6. Blake Hahn, Austyn Gossel (13 laps)
7. Jason Martin (11 laps)

QUICK TIME AWARDS (9 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3 awards)
2. Matt Covington, Seth Bergman, Blake Hahn (2 awards)
3. Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Kyler Johnson, Roger Crockett, Jason Martin (1 award)

HEAT RACE WINNERS (27 Drivers)

1. Matt Covington (8 wins)
2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7 wins)
3. Garrett Benson (4 wins)
4. Justin Peck, Blake Hahn (3 wins)
5. Scotty Thiel, Whit Gastineau, Seth Bergman, Jason Martin, Hank Davis, Sean McClelland, Harli White, Austyn Gossel (2 wins)
6. Chris Martin, Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Caleb Saiz, Bradley Fezard, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Jordon Mallett, Cameron Martin, Bryant Wiedeman, Sterling Cling, Tucker Boutlon, Landon Britt (1 win)

DASH APPEARANCES (42 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (12 appearances)
2. Matt Covington (10 appearances)
3. Blake Hahn (7 appearances)
4. Garrett Benson (5 appearances)
5. Seth Bergman, Austyn Gossel (4 appearances)
6. Justin Peck, Kyler Johnson, Whit Gastineau, Jason Martin (3 appearances)
7. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley, Jordon Mallett, Sean McClelland (2 appearances)
8. Hank Davis, Jordan Thomas, Scotty Thiel, Chris Martin, Brian Brown, Caleb Saiz, Chance Morton, Bradley Fezard, Zach Blurton, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Roger Crockett, Brady Baker, Bryant Wiedeman, Joey Danley, Cameron Martin, Alex Sewell, Steven Shebester, Harli White, Tucker Boulton, Landon Britt, Sterling Cling, Scotty Milan (1 appearance)

SMITH TITANIUM LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (8 Drivers)

1. Blake Hahn, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Clem, Kyle Clark, Bryant Wiedeman, Jason Martin, Harli White, Connor Lee (1 win)

HARD CHARGER AWARDS (10 Drivers)

1. Brady Baker (4 awards)
2. Ryder Laplante (2 awards)
3. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Blake Hahn, Landon Britt, Jordon Mallett, Jason Martin, Brad Bowden, Stu Snyder (1 award)

 PODIUM FINISHES (18 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (11 podiums)
2. Blake Hahn, Jason Martin (5 podiums)
3. Matt Covington (4 podiums)
4. Justin Peck (3 podiums)
5. Brian Brown (2 podiums)
6. Emerson Axsom, Cole Macedo, Austin McCarl, Seth Bergman, Sean McClelland, Zach Blurton, Austyn Gossel, Kyler Johnson, Brady Baker, Cameron Martin, Joey Danley, Garrett Benson (1 podium)

2025 SCHEDULE + WINNERS

Race Number. Day, Date / Track / City, State / Winner (Total Wins)

1. Thu, Jan. 30 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (1)
2. Fri, Jan. 31 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (2)
3. Sat, Feb. 1 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (3)
4. Sat, April 12 / Salina Highbanks Speedway / Salina, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1)
5. Sat, May 10 / Paducah International Raceway / Paducah, KY / Matt Covington (1)
6. Fri, May 30 / Salt City Speedway / Hutchinson, KS / Zach Blurton (1)
7. Sat, May 31 / Dodge City Raceway Park / Dodge City, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2)
8. Sat, June 7 / Texarkana 67 Speedway / Texarkana, AR / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3)
9. Sat, June 21 / Batesville Motor Speedway / Locust Grove, AR / Blake Hahn (1)
10. Thu, July 3 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4)
11. Fri, July 4 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5)
12. Fri, July 18 / Creek County Speedway / Sapulpa, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6)
13. Fri, July 25 / Windy Hollow Speedway / Owensboro, KY / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7)
14. Sat, July 26 / Benton Speedway / Benton, MO / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8)