{"id":7183,"date":"2019-08-08T00:32:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T04:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=7183"},"modified":"2019-08-08T03:11:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T07:11:15","slug":"trey-starks-upsets-night-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2019\/08\/08\/trey-starks-upsets-night-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Trey Starks upsets Night 1 of Knoxville Nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s how <strong>Trey Starks<\/strong> responded when asked how he felt after his victory on Night 1 of the 2019 NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals.<\/p>\n<p>In what was an unpredictable night of racing that saw Starks play Cinderella, <strong>Aaron Reutzel<\/strong> take the top points spot, and 2018&#8217;s third-place finisher\u00a0<strong>Kyle Larson\u00a0<\/strong>miss the A-Main.<\/p>\n<h2>Trey Starks upsets Night 1 of Knoxville Nationals<\/h2>\n<p>It took him a long time to process it.<\/p>\n<p>Starks commits to flying into Des Moines, Iowa from Seattle, Washington each week to run at Knoxville in their track championship.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s his rookie season in the series, and he hadn&#8217;t been able to hit pay dirt until Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe took it upon ourselves to say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s pick [Knoxville Raceway] out and try to get better there and see if we can consistently be fast there,\u2019\u201d Starks said. \u201cAnd we haven\u2019t really this year yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s currently running eighth in the Knoxville Championship Cup Series points, so it was unexpected to see his name at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the night.<\/p>\n<p>Starks held off last week&#8217;s 360 Knoxville Nationals champion\u00a0<strong>James McFadden\u00a0<\/strong>after a restart came midway through the 25-lap main event.<\/p>\n<p>Besides one more caution in the first heat race of the evening and another at the start of the C-Main, it was a relatively clean night of racing, which led to a table that&#8217;s jumbled to say the least.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7188\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7188\" style=\"width: 399px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-7188\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-300x226.jpg\" alt=\"Trey Starks upset\" width=\"399\" height=\"301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-768x580.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-1024x773.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-80x60.jpg 80w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-696x525.jpg 696w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-1068x806.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2-557x420.jpg 557w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2019\/08\/Starks_2.jpg 1018w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7188\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trey Starks rides the inside line in route to victory at Knoxville on Wednesday Night. Photo by Ken Berry Racing Pics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although Starks crossed the line first, Aaron Reutzel&#8217;s team were the ones taking the top spot in the Nationals standings after night one.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas native qualified second overall and was one of two drivers to transfer into the A-Main after an invert of eight put the top 10 in row four to start their heats.<\/p>\n<p>He was feeling good about it going into the night&#8217;s Feature.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.@AaronReutzel qualified second overall tonight, was one of two drivers that started in the fourth row of their heats to advance straight to the A-Main, and looks like the top points-getter so far. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WoOSprint?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WoOSprint<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NOSvilleNationals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NOSvilleNationals<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>What he had to say: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/x0lKKbydbM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/x0lKKbydbM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cfchangs9\/status\/1159289485844201472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 8, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That allowed him to take it easy in the main event, where he settled for a fifth-place finish.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We tried a few things because of where we were sitting [in points],&#8221; Reutzel said. &#8220;I felt like it was worth trying some things. We were not as good as where we needed to be and had a few guys in front of us that were racing a little wild. We didn&#8217;t push the issue. I think we could have been a top three car, but I settled with fifth because I knew we were going to be sitting really good on Saturday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Reutzel exits with a 21-point lead over second-place\u00a0<strong>Tim Kaeding<\/strong>. That allowed Reutzel to play things safe and &#8216;settle&#8217; for a fifth-place finish in the main event.<\/p>\n<p>Things didn&#8217;t go quite as smoothly for NASCAR&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>Kyle Larson\u00a0<\/strong>or the Outlaws&#8217;\u00a0<strong>Donny Schatz.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Both drivers run historically well at the 1\/2-mile track, but didn&#8217;t transfer to the A-Main following their heat races.<\/p>\n<p>With only 12 laps to use in the B-Main to try and race their way in, they had to move quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Schatz was able to pass four cars on the opening lap of the B-Main, to earn his transfer spot and actually salvage an admirable 10th-place in points.<\/p>\n<p>For Larson, however, he got held up at the start of the last-chance race, and couldn&#8217;t make the move forward.<\/p>\n<p>That means if he can&#8217;t come back on Friday night due to scheduling conflicts with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2019\/07\/31\/nascar-heat-4-truck-drivers-roster-announced\/\" target=\"_self\">NASCAR<\/a> qualifying, he won&#8217;t be able to race on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of the 52 cars in the field will take to the track on <a href=\"http:\/\/knoxvilleraceway.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thursday<\/a> night. Hot laps will begin at 7:15 p.m. CT.<\/p>\n<table width=\"241\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\" colspan=\"3\" width=\"241\"><strong>Knoxville Nationals Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Position<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Driver<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Points<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>Aaron Reutzel<\/td>\n<td>487<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>Tim Kaeding<\/td>\n<td>466<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>Paul McMahan<\/td>\n<td>465<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>Brent Marks<\/td>\n<td>464<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>Trey Starks<\/td>\n<td>463<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>Ian Madsen<\/td>\n<td>455<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>7<\/td>\n<td>S. Haudenschild<\/td>\n<td>453<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<td>James McFadden<\/td>\n<td>450<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>Gio Scelzi<\/td>\n<td>449<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>Donny Schatz<\/td>\n<td>447<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<td>Mark Dobmeier<\/td>\n<td>444<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<td>Tanner Thorson<\/td>\n<td>440<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>13<\/td>\n<td>Jac Haudenschild<\/td>\n<td>424<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>14<\/td>\n<td>Paige Polyak<\/td>\n<td>423<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>15<\/td>\n<td>Danny Dietrich<\/td>\n<td>421<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>16<\/td>\n<td>Brady Bacon<\/td>\n<td>416<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>17<\/td>\n<td>Tasker Phillips<\/td>\n<td>410<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>18<\/td>\n<td>Wayne Johnson<\/td>\n<td>410<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>19<\/td>\n<td>Justin Peck<\/td>\n<td>410<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<td>Jamie Ball<\/td>\n<td>410<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>21<\/td>\n<td>Kyle Larson<\/td>\n<td>406<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d That\u2019s how Trey Starks responded when asked how he felt after his victory on Night 1 of the 2019 NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals. In what was an unpredictable night of racing that saw Starks play Cinderella, Aaron Reutzel take the top points spot, and 2018&#8217;s third-place finisher\u00a0Kyle Larson\u00a0miss the A-Main. Trey [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":7184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7],"tags":[1198,569,1199,62,1181,1135,1200],"class_list":["post-7183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dirt","category-more-racing","tag-aaron-reutzel","tag-donny-schatz","tag-james-mcfadden","tag-kyle-larson","tag-nos-energy-drink-knoxville-nationals","tag-sheldon-haudenschild","tag-trey-starks"],"modified_by":"Connor Ferguson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}