KNOXVILLE, IA — Jacob Allen gave Giovanni Scelzi a small enough window to find his way through to the lead and the California native didn’t need a second invitation in Wednesday night’s preliminary feature at the 2024 Knoxville Nationals.
Allen had led the first 22 laps in the 25-lap A-Main when the Pennsylvania native had to jump to the outside of Matt Juhl‘s smoking machine. In doing so he left enough room between his car and the No. 09 for Scelzi to squeeze past as the trio of cars sped toward the first turn.
“Once I got by Justin (Peck), I could see Jacob (Allen) and he was moving around and trying to get by lappers,” Scelzi said in the post-race press conference. “There was a brick wall of lapped cars in front of him and at that point you start thinking ‘Do I need to force the issue here,’ and I felt like I had a decent points night going really when I got to fourth. Opportunities presented themselves and I kind of took it.”
Scelzi hung on to take a hard-fought win from sixth on the starting grid over Allen and Justin Peck. Chase Randall and Brent Marks rounded out the top five with Anthony Macri in 10th place earning the Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions after starting 21st.
David Gravel, the 2019 Knoxville Nationals champion, finished 15th after starting last in the 24-car field while 11-time Knoxville Nationals champion Donny Schatz finished 18th. Gravel was the final car to transfer out of the B-Main into Wednesday night’s feature after a late move on Buddy Kofoid dropped the California native out of fourth place.
Kofoid was the star of the B-Main as he started 10th in the penultimate race of the evening. Going into the final corners, Kofoid held fourth over Gravel, but the Connecticut native snatched the position from the No. 83JR as the pair went through the final turn.
A distraught Kofoid received the small consolation of the Break of the Race Award for Wednesday night’s racing action.
The top 16 in qualifying points will lock into Saturday’s 50-lap feature and the table can be found below.
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