Kyle Larson Passes Garet Williamson Late For Knoxville Prelim Win

Kyle Larson made the most of a late restart Thursday at Knoxville Raceway, rallying from eighth to overtake Garet Williamson and win Toyota Qualifying Night at the 65th annual NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's.

Larson chased Williamson for much of the second half of the 25-lap feature before making the winning move on Lap 21. The victory aboard Paul Silva’s No. 57 paid $12,000 and marked Larson’s 15th career Knoxville Raceway win.

More importantly, Larson emerged as the high-point driver through the two preliminary nights heading into Saturday’s finale. Whether he can take his earned starting spot, however, depends on his NASCAR Cup Series commitments at Richmond Raceway on the same night of the 50-lap main event.

“It was fun,” Larson said of his battle with Williamson. “I’m glad I got a second shot at it there (the last restart). He did some stuff I wasn’t expecting on the first restart, and I was hoping he would do the same thing again and learn from that first restart. I was able to make it work, and just had enough room there low into one to slide him and get going back on the top.

“He was doing a really good job. He had a great car. That was a fun race, and a fun battle up front before I got there with him and McCarl and Buddy. I was just glad to make the right moves on the last restart and take the lead. I hope I’m back Saturday or Sunday potentially.”

Williamson started from the pole and controlled much of the feature, though Austin McCarl briefly wrestled the lead away with a Turn 1 slider on Lap 7. Williamson answered two laps later to regain the top spot.

Larson methodically worked forward in the meantime. He cracked the top five early, reached third following a Lap 10 restart and slid McCarl for second on Lap 12.

Williamson maintained the lead through another restart with seven laps remaining, but Larson received another opportunity when Tasker Phillips flipped in Turn 2 on Lap 19. Phillips walked away.

Larson capitalized when racing resumed, challenging Williamson before beating him into Turn 1 on Lap 21 to take command for good.

“I feel like I’ve been up front a lot of these races,” Williamson said. “I felt like I was doing my job and knowing where to be in traffic. I feel like the bottom came in and went away and the top was treacherous. I felt like I had a good run on the bottom before those restarts. Going back to those restarts, going into one, you really don’t have the same speed, you’re out of your rhythm.

“Locking in is really good for us. What are you going to do? Kyle is pretty good at what he does. Any mental mistake, he’s going to be there to capitalize. There’s nothing to hang our head about.”

While Larson and Williamson decided the victory, Brent Marks made a charge of his own from 12th. Marks entered the top five late before passing McCarl and Buddy Kofoid for third with three laps remaining.

“Honestly, I felt like we had a really good car all race ling,” Marks said. “I think we got to the mid to late point and got really tight. I just wasn’t able to gain anymore than I was hoping I could. The track really came back to me. On the last restart, I knew I needed to do a little something different than what I was doing. The bottom was just so good down there, so I figured if I was patient enough, and those guys were racing hard trying to slide themselves, I could sneak under them.”

Williamson settled for second behind Larson, while Marks finished third. Kofoid and McCarl completed the top five, followed by Parker Price-Miller, Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel, hard-charger Logan Schuchart and Spencer Bayston.

Tanner Thorson set quick time over the 49-car field. Bayston, Macedo, Marks, Chris Martin and Ayrton Gennetten won the heats. Landon Crawley captured the C-main and Schuchart won the B-main.

2026 Knoxville Nationals Thursday Qualifying Night Results