Story By: A2DPR / KYLE REINHARDT RACING – KNOXVILLE, IA – The stage doesn’t get any bigger for a 410 sprint car driver than the Knoxville Nationals. Every August well over one hundred of the best in the world descend upon the small town in Iowa to see how they measure up and to try to grab their share of the loot from the lucrative event.
In his third trip to the Nationals back in 2021, Kyle Reinhardt reached the B-main on Saturday night after a solid week of performances. To add to that achievement, the Neptune City, NJ native had entered the 360 Nationals the week before and came away with the Rookie of the Year award for that event.
It’s the toughest week of the year in sprint car racing and Reinhardt has lived the ups and downs since his first Nationals in 2017, reaching the Saturday night B-main two times.
Last week he was back again for the 2024 edition to take another shot at his first Nationals Saturday A-main in the Capitol Custom Coaches & Trailers, Coors Banquet Beer, E-Z-GO Golf Cars, Henry’s Wrecker Service No.91.
CAPPY SHAKEDOWN
Reinhardt unloaded a newly built No.91 for the Capitani Classic last Sunday aiming to shake it down at what is likely the most difficult one-day sprint car show to qualify for.
With 82 cars on hand, Reinhardt turned in the 34th quickest lap in Group B qualifying, then passed three cars to finish 9th in his heat race to move into the B-main.
From his 16th starting spot in that last-chance race, Reinhardt looked very racy. He charged up to 7th before a late-race slip dropped him to a 9th-place finish. While he did not advance to the A-main, it was a productive night settling into the new car.
“We had a really good car there in the B-main. I missed my mark just a little bit going into (turn) one there with a couple of laps to go and that ended up costing me two spots but we learned some things about this car tonight, so we will take that.”, Reinhardt commented.
THE NATIONALS
Thursday was qualifying night for Reinhardt and his team. His qualifying lap, 45th fastest in the field of 54 cars, was the beginning of a tough night. He struggled in his heat race and retired early from the C-main, officially finishing 11th.
Reinhardt was looking to hit reset and climb out of the hole the following night, Friday’s Hard Knox program. After qualifying 29th in Group 1, he logged a 6th-place finish in his heat race.
The car was decent in the heat race but after a few more adjustments, Reinhardt found himself in the B-main with the best car he had all week. He started 7th and needed to reach the top three to advance to the A-main.
He quickly raced into the top five and soon after, slipped into 4th and moved alongside the 3rd place car. Just as he did, the race was slowed for an incident, forcing him to restart in 5th since the lap had not been completed.
In the remaining laps, Reinhardt wasn’t able to build the momentum needed to get back within striking distance of a transfer spot. He settled for a 5th place finish.
“If that race had stayed green the whole way, I’m confident we had the car to transfer. That was the best we have been all week.”, Reinhardt said. “I think we solved an issue we have been fighting back home in PA too.”
At Knoxville, every spot matters. The competition is incredibly tight. Had Reinhardt made that transfer Friday night, he would have kicked off his Saturday night in the B-main but instead he started mid-pack in the C-main.
When the green flag dropped on the C-main Saturday night, it didn’t take Reinhardt long to figure out they just weren’t as good as they had been Friday night. He opted to park the No.91 early rather than spend resources.
SUMMING IT UP
Qualifying is certainly a huge key to any team’s Knoxville Nationals week but the format does give teams a chance to claw their way back into the mix if they can improve their performance Friday on Hard Knox night.
Reinhardt had some momentum at the end of that Friday night program and was hoping it would carry him forward Saturday night but it didn’t unfold that way.
“I’m definitely disappointed in our performance.”, Reinhardt said. “We didn’t qualify well any of the nights we hit the track. We still had our chances though and we got much better Friday night but it was too little, too late.”
“We have already talked about next year and agreed we need to come out here for a race or two before the Nationals to prepare and put a good effort in. We have had some good years out here and we know we have the stuff to reach the A-main on Saturday.”
UP NEXT
Reinhardt will take this weekend off, then return for a two-race weekend on August 23rd-24th.
Friday night he will compete at the famed Mechanicsburg, PA oval, Williams Grove Speedway, in the track’s Yellow Breeches 500 night. The following night the Neptune City, NJ native will enter the Kramer Klash at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA.