KNOXVILLE — It wasn't just the man up front that told the story of the 2024 Knoxville Nationals.
It was the men that made the best charges at trying the dethrone the two-time champion.
Kyle Larson completed another wire-to-wire run to the title in the 50-lap A-Main of the 410 Nationals on Saturday night, winning the crown jewel of sprint car racing for the third time in four years. Right behind Larson was Gio Scelzi, who got right on Larson's back bumper with less than 10 laps left, while Corey Day made the podium driving through traffic to post a career-high third-place finish at Knoxville after starting the A-Main in 11th.
Carson Macedo just missed out on earning a place on the podium, finishing fourth at Knoxville after making his own run at challenging Larson midway through the 50-lap feature. When it was all said and done on Saturday, the top four drivers that finished as the top four in the field of 110 cars to start the week all made their way to 'The Sprint Car Capital of the World' from the Golden State of California.
"You're just used to being around cars and charging corners," Larson said. "The foundation of the racing out there in California really sets the ground work for the talent and where you groom yourself.
"California has the best. You can't even really argue it."
Scelzi, Day and Macedo all come from communities that are within an hour of each other in northern California. Larson, meanwhile, raced further up the coast nearly three hours to the north in Elk Grove.
"I grew up with a different background than either Corey or Gio. I came from an area with Outlaw cars. Gio and Corey were central with micro cars," Larson said. "The one thing we all have in common is the tracks we raced on. We all had to deal with tight bullrings where you had to learn to run extremely hard. That's what you have to do in a sprint car to be fast.
"When you grow up racing at tracks like Chico, Tulare, Placerville, Watsonville, Hanford, you never feel good. When you come to these big, smooth half-miles like Knoxville, everything kind of slows down and feels a little bit easier."
Scelzi, who put together a fantastic 10 days in Knoxville finishing second in the 410 Nationals one week after winning the 360 title, also credits the added opportunities being made available to young drivers coming up through California that has led to current run of sprint car success.
"Car owners like Dennis Roth, Harley Van Dyke, Rod Tiner aren't afraid to give a young guy a chance," Scelzi said. "I don't know if that owners aren't afraid of putting a young guy in their cars, but it's a lot more a part of racing out there. You have to be perfect in a car. Sometimes, the difference is crashing the car and learning. The opportunities to race at those different tracks that are very tight, but the opportunities seem to be more open for younger drivers."
Day is a great example of a young driver making the most of the opportunities. The 18-year-old from Clovis is in his first season of full-time sprint car racing, shining throughout the week in Iowa finishing second to Larson in Oskaloosa last Monday at the Front Row Challenge before making his move to the podium in Saturday's 50-lap finale at Knoxville.
"Racing on a track in Chico where you're going three-wide on a track where you should never try to go three-wide on teaches you how to race really close and really hard," Day said. "You come to Knoxville and it feels like you could be 15-wide and still have space between each other. Growing up running a micro at Plaza Park Raceway (in Visalia) every Friday, being 10-years-old in a race car running wide open around the fence on a big, old curve definitely sped up my learning curve. That's why I can come out here (to Knoxville) and run so hard."
Beyond the top four cars that finished the 50-lap A-Main at the Knoxville Nationals this year, California drivers could be found throughout the field of the final 24 drivers that were left to compete for the title on Saturday. Brian Brown gave California five of the top-six finishes in Saturday's A-Main while Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu also represented the Golden State well throughout the week with Abreu winning the Capitani Classic during Knoxville Speedweeks.
"It's funny to think that Gio, Carson and I all grew up about five minutes away from each other," Day said. "We all raced the same tracks. We've all had the same support. I wouldn't be here right now without the support all these guys have shown me since I've started racing.
"I'm enjoying being the young kid of the group for now, but I know it won't be long until there's another young kid that will be coming along to be doing as well as I'm doing if not doing even better."
