Two years ago, David Gravel was dominating the Knoxville Nationals when his rear end gave out ending his night just past the halfway point. Fast forward to 2019, and Gravel finally won the race that has eluded him for the last two years. Gravel won the 59th Annual Knoxville Nationals Saturday Night. He took the lead on lap 14 and held it until the end of the 50 lap race. Aaron Reutzel and Joey Saldana traded the lead three times in the first 13 laps before Gravel took over. Gravel told KRLS Sports in victory lane, as long as he did his job and the car held up there was no stopping him. Bobbi Johnson, the owner of Jason Johnson Racing saw her late husband win the Nationals in dramatic fashion in 2016, only to tragically lose him to a racing accident less than a year later. Johnson said it took a lot of people getting behind the team when times were tough. Logan Schuchart charged from 22nd to second place and earned the hard chargers award while Daryn Pittman was third to complete the podium. Tanner Thorson, who was a first ever entry in the Nationals from the state of Nevada was awarded Rookie of the Year as the highest finishing first year driver placing 20th in the B-Main. James McFadden, who won the 360 Nationals won the Jesse Hockett Mr. Sprint Car Award, which acknowledges the best driver overall during Southern Iowa Sprint Week. Jason Sides on the E-Main, Davey Heskin was the winner of the D-Main, Tyler Courtney won the C-Main and and Gio Scelzi took the B-Main and ultimately finished tenth in the A-Main. Of note, Donny Schatz’s 13 year streak of finishing first or second came to an end when he crossed the line in ninth. Schatz started 17th after placing second in the B-Main and transferring into the A. He also caused the caution when he stopped on the track four laps into the race.

E main, 10 Laps, 2:47.7: 1. 7JS, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (1); 2. 73AF, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (2); 3. 33m, Mason Daniel, Springville, CA (3); 4. 19T, Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, AL (5); 5. 17wx, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (7); 6. 17XL, Caleb Helms, Findlay, OH (9) / 7. 75, Glen Saville, Razorback, NSW, Aust. (4); 8. 84, Tom Harris, Banbury, OXFD, UK (8); 9. 74, Brodie Tulloch, Upper Caboolture, QLD, Aust. (6); 10. 15M, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (10); 11. J4, John Garvin, Sarver, PA (12); 12. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (11); 13. 85, Chase Wanner, Ottumwa, IA (15); 14. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (13); 15. 83c, Adam Cruea, Troy, OH (14) DNS – 64, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI; 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA; 11c, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK; 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA; 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD; 3H, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH; 19P, Paige Polyak, Tiffin, OH; 2AU, Andrew Scheuerle, Toowoomba, QLD, Aust.; 2mm, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA; 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA; 11T, TJ Stutts, Liverpool, PA; 18M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC; 53, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE; 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN

D main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (2); 2. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (1); 3. 7, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN (3); 4. 17w, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (4) / 5. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (10) ($1,175 bonus from Trunk Bar); 6. 68, Chase Johnson, Penngrove, CA (8); 7. 99x, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (9); 8. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (6); 9. W20, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (7); 10. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (12); 11. 3c, Cale Conley, Vienna, WV (11); 12. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (5); 13. 9x, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (14); 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (20); 15. Jason Sides (19); 16. 21P, Robbie Price, Cobble Hill, BC, Can. (16); 17. 29, Willie Croft, Roseville, CA (17); 18. Joey Moughan (18); 19. Mason Daniel (21); 20. Caleb Helms (22); 21. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (15); 22. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (13); 23. Harli White (23); 24. 28P, Brian Paulus, Mooresville, IN (24) DNS – 2c, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK; 51, Freddie Rahmer, Salfordville, PA

C main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. 71BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (1); 2. 91, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (4); 3. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (8); 4. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (2) / 5. 83J, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (9) ($100 bonus from Big River Garage Doors); 6. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (7); 7. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (3); 8. 35P, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (6); 9. 99x, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (12); 10. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (11); 11. 1, Travis Rilat, Heath, TX (5); 12. 7x, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (10); 13. 18s, Jason Solwold, Mt. Vernon, WA (15); 14. Shane Golobic (24); 15. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (13); 16. Davey Heskin (21); 17. Rusty Hickman (22); 18. 10, RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL (18); 19. 7sw, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (14); 20. 92, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (17); 21. Craig Dollansky (23); 22. 14M, Marcus Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (16); 23. 1x, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (20); 24. 70x, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (19)

B main (started), 22 Laps, NT: 1. 71, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (2); 2. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (4); 3. 9, James McFadden, Warrnambool, VIC, Aust. (1); 4. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (3) / 5. 2, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (8); 6. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (5); 7. 70, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (9); 8. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA (6); 9. 2KS, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (11); 10. 1a, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (10); 11. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (15); 12. Brian Brown (23); 13. 39, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (14); 14. K4, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (19); 15. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (20); 16. 17BX, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (16); 17. Tyler Courtney (21); 18. Carson McCarl (24); 19. 11, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (17); 20. 88, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (7); 21. Cale Thomas (22); 22. 17B, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (13); 23. 5H, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (12); 24. 4, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (18)

A main (started), 50 Laps, NT: 1. 41, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (2); 2. 1s, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (22); 3. 83, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (10); 4. 7s, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (7); 5. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (1); 6. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (6); 7. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (15); 8. James McFadden (19); 9. Donny Schatz (18); 10. Gio Scelzi (17); 11. 2m, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (21); 12. 5, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (23); 13. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (13); 14. 12N, Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN (3); 15. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (14); 16. 71P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (5); 17. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (9); 18. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (12); 19. 44s, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (11); 20. 13x, Paul McMahan, Nashville, TN (8); 21. 49x, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (4); 22. Rico Abreu (20); 23. 69K, Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, PA (16); 24. 41s, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (24). Lap Leaders: Reutzel 1, Saldana 2-3, Reutzel 4-13, Gravel 14-50. MPI Hard-charger (steering wheel): Schuchart. SprintCarUnlimited.com $2,000 Pole Sitter: Reutzel. Gear Wrench Crew Chief of the Nationals: Phil Dietz (toolbox).