Knoxville Nationals: Haudenschild and Larson win opening nights

The opening nights of the 65th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway saw dramatic finishes and high-stakes racing. On Wednesday, Sheldon Haudenschild secured a narrow victory in a photo finish, beating James McFadden by just .006 seconds after a three-wide battle on the final lap. Haudenschild’s win placed him at the top of the points standings following the first qualifying night.

On Thursday, Kyle Larson took the victory in the second preliminary event. The race featured multiple cautions, including incidents involving Kaleb Johnson and Tasker Phillips, both of whom ended up upside down but were able to climb out of their vehicles safely. Larson managed to take the lead from Garret Williamson during the latter stages of the race.

The events serve as precursors to the $200,000-to-win main event scheduled for Saturday.