This is the best Sheldon Haudenschild has ever looked in 410 Sprint Car racing and that was before he claimed night one of the Knoxville Nationals on Wednesday night.
During his previous tenure at Stenhouse Jr – Marshall Racing, the now 32-year-old was perpetually fast but also incredibly inconsistent. It always felt like there were missing puzzle pieces and they may have come together this season at KCP Racing.
Advertisement
Again, these were all things that were true even before unloading on Wednesday night, with the son of the legendary Jac Haudenschild sitting third in the World of Outlaws standings with seven victories.
But it’s not like this is a completely different team either. Haudenschild is still working alongside longtime crew chief Kyle Ripper and crew members Adam Clark and Dauson Heitritter. They’re all wearing the NOS colors still.
They’re just a No. 18 instead of a No. 17.
Advertisement
Regardless of why things are different this year, Haudenschild earned one of the highlights of his career on Wednesday with a last lap pass of both James McFadden and Jace Park.
“I saw the 21 cut down real hard,” Haudenschild said of McFadden. “I knew he probably lost a little bit of momentum. Then he slid across the track, and I was like, ‘Man, if I could get my right rear where I’ve been putting it, I think I will have a shot as long as they don’t close that gap too soon.'”
Advertisement
With the win, Haudenschild scored the most points of the drivers who qualified on Wednesday with the other half set to race on Thursday. He could earn the pole for Championship Saturday or a front row starting spot but doesn’t want it.
“I don’t even think about it,” Haudenschild said. “That’s not my style. I’m good starting fifth or sixth. I don’t care.”
It’s wild because there hasn’t been a pass for the lead in the Nationals main event since 2022.
Advertisement
“Just put me in the fight and I know we can race well and it’s a long race,” Haudenschild said. “So yeah, and I think the track’s just been a little bit different too. And yeah, I think you just have to wait and see how Saturday plays out. But I’m confident in my team, in my car. And yeah, no worries if we start fourth, fifth, sixth. We’re going to give her 110 percent.”
Haudenschild said ‘fun’ like 100 times on Wednesday night. He’s having fun. He’s loose. The pressure is off from the last couple of years at SJMR. He said going into this race that this week was about ‘proving it,’ and he’s off to validating start to his week.
What’s the difference from Lil Haud in 2026 compared to 2025?
Advertisement
“I think at the end of the day, a different engine package, different cars,” Haudenschild said. “And me and Ripper are doing the same things we’ve always done. It’s just that when you have different pieces in place, we’ve just been positioning ourselves every night, qualifying better, starting the front of the heat races, getting in the dashes, and that allows us to focus on our race car more.
“And as a driver, starting up front every night cuts my workload in half as a driver to win these races. So for me, it’s just confidence and being comfortable and being well-positioned every night.”
Read Also:
Advertisement
Knoxville Nationals feature hasn’t had a lead change in three years
Kasey Kahne is as passionate and competitive as ever at Knoxville Nationals
Takeaways
For just the third time in his career, Kasey Kahne is going to make the main event of the Knoxville Nationals. His previous appearances came in 2002 with Durst Racing and 2021 with Roth Enterprises, book-ending his NASCAR career.
He took advantage of drawing a ‘7’ for his qualifying pill, leading to a fast time in qualifying, but was also just one of two drivers to race into a transfer from the inversion row. Haudenshild was the other.
Advertisement
“We had a great draw,” Kahne said. “Car made good speed in qualifying, got through the heat and maintained, lost a little bit early in the feature and then maintained. The car felt really good but just couldn’t make speed in the feature. We’ll work on that for Saturday but this was overall a good night.”
His eight place finish will give him enough points to start Saturday night from either the third or fourth row.
With a fourth place feature finish, Cole Macedo likely scored enough points for a Saturday feature lock-in, which would be good for the second of his career. He needed it too as this summer has been a rough patch for TwoC Racing.
Advertisement
“I feel like I say this every single time we accomplish these big things like making these crown jewel events, but these TwoC Racing guys, they just keep giving me great race cars and putting me in position to do so.
“So I’m super proud of them, super happy for them. They all work really hard and our team morale, we needed this for sure. So we’ve been struggling a little bit lately. I don’t think we’ve ran in the top 10 in the last 15 races.
“So to be able to kind of almost, I guess we don’t know until after tomorrow, but I feel like to almost lock in already on our prelim and run in the top five is a great accomplishment.”
Advertisement
Ryan Timms is the reigning Knoxville Nationals winner but faces long odds to go back-to-back after a disaster of a day.
First, he could only put up the 25th fastest lap in time trials. But he won his heat race to maximize the points available to him. He was set to start ninth in the feature but were unable to get the fuel plate locked into place after a fuel cell replacement.
They got it tightened but then needed to add fuel, all of this while pace laps were taking place, leading to this visual.
Timms finished last and will need to make the show via the Friday night Hard Knox qualifier.
To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.
