Donny Schatz has dominated the past decade at the Knoxville Nationals and he will be the driver to beat when the 55th running of sprint car racing’s 
biggest prize begins this evening with the opening night of qualifying.
Since breaking through for his first Nationals’ win in 2006 the Minot, North Dakota, native has captured eight of the last nine crowns and he comes into this week with 22 feature wins this season on the World of Outlaws circuit.
Twelve time winner Steve Kinser and four time champion Danny Lasoski will make qualifying runs on Thursday night.
A total of 115 cars have entered the four-day event.