KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Thanks to his superb Wednesday night preliminary performance, Aaron Reutzel will start from the pole in Saturday’s 50-lap, $150,000-to-win NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals finale.

Reutzel garnered 487 of a possible 500 points by qualifying second-quickest, finishing second in his heat race and running fifth during the 25-lap preliminary feature on BRANDT Qualifying Night.

That will put the defending All Star Circuit of Champions titlist’s Baughman Reutzel Motorsports, Folken Brothers Trucking-backed, black-and-gold No. 87 out front as the Texan chases his first Knoxville Nationals crown later this weekend.

Sixteen drivers locked into the A-main starting field by virtue of their combined point totals from preliminary action. Ten more secured B-main starting positions, while the rest come back Friday night.

The closest anyone could come to Reutzel’s total was Thursday night preliminary winner David Gravel, who put up 481 points and will start from the outside of the front row on Saturday night.

Gravel, from Watertown, Conn., put up a perfect preliminary score two years ago but blew a motor in the finale and saw a Knoxville Nationals victory slip through his fingertips.

Driving the Ed Neumister-owned No. 12n, Indiana’s Joey Saldana (479) will roll off third alongside Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer (474) , who came out of the B-main and charged from 21st to seventh Thursday to score valuable points and put himself in position to chase his second Knoxville title.

Parker Price-Miller (473) will share the third row with defending Knoxville Nationals winner Brad Sweet (470), who chased Gravel all the way on Thursday night but had to settle for second in the end.

Tim Kaeding (466) and Paul McMahan (465) make up row four, with Brent Marks and Daryn Pittman tied at 464 points and rounding out the top 10 starters for the Knoxville Nationals finale.

Wednesday night winner Trey Starks will roll off 11th with 463 points, next to Knoxville track regular Matt Juhl (457), who made the big dance through Friday’s Hard Knox feature one year ago.

Calfornia’s Cory Eliason and Australian Ian Madsen, the 2018 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series rookie of the year, make up the 12th row of the A-main lineup after tying at 455 points.

The final two drivers to lock in on their preliminary night point totals were Outlaw regular Sheldon Haudenschild (453) and Pennsylvania Posse kingpin Lance Dewease (451).

Recent 360 Knoxville Nationals champion James McFadden, 17-year-old hotshoe Gio Scelzi, fan favorite Rico Abreu and 10-time World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz make up the front two rows of Saturday night’s Last Chance Showdown. They were the first four drivers below the lock-in threshold.

Also locked into the B-main are Mark Dobmeier, Scott Bogucki, Tanner Thorson, Carson Macedo, Brock Zearfoss and Jacob Allen.

Among the heavy-hitters who have to come back for Friday’s Hard Knox qualifying night are Jac Haudenschild, Danny Dietrich, Brady Bacon, Brian Brown, NASCAR star Kyle Larson, Kerry Madsen, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Tyler Courtney, Spencer Bayston, Logan Schuchart, Shane Stewart and Kevin Thomas Jr.

Stewart went for a wild flip in turn three during his heat race Thursday, but walked away uninjured.

The points:

1. Aaron Reutzel, 487; 2. David Gravel, 481; 3. Joey Saldana, 479; 4. Tim Shaffer, 474; 5. Parker Price-Miller, 473; 6. Brad Sweet, 470; 7. Tim Kaeding, 466; 8. Paul McMahan, 465; 9. Brent Marks, 464; 10. Daryn Pittman, 464; 11. Trey Starks, 463; 12. Matt Juhl, 457; 13. Cory Eliason, 455; 14. Ian Madsen, 455; 15. Sheldon Haudenschild, 453; 16. Lance Dewease, 451 / 17. James McFadden, 450; 18. Gio Scelzi, 449; 19. Rico Abreu, 447; 20. Donny Schatz, 447; 21. Mark Dobmeier, 444; 22. Scott Bogucki, 442; 23. Tanner Thorson, 440; 24. Carson Macedo, 435; 25. Brock Zearfoss, 430; 26. Jacob Allen, 427 / 27. Jason Solwold, 426; 28. Jac Haudenschild, 424; 29. Paige Polyak, 423; 30. Danny Dietrich, 421; 31. Clint Garner, 417; 32. Brooke Tatnell, 416; 33. Brady Bacon, 416; 34. Brian Brown, 412; 35. Tasker Phillips, 410; 36. Wayne Johnson, 410; 37. Justin Peck, 410; 38. Jamie Ball, 410; 39. Thomas Kennedy, 409; 40. Jason Sides, 408; 41. Kyle Larson, 406; 42. Terry McCarl, 405; 43. Kraig Kinser, 404; 44. Sye Lynch, 402; 45. Lynton Jeffrey, 401; 46. Austin McCarl, 399; 47. Carson McCarl, 397; 48. Josh Baughman, 396; 49. Kerry Madsen, 396; 50. Mason Daniel, 390; 51. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 390; 52. Justin Henderson, 390; 53. Tyler Courtney, 386; 54. Cale Thomas, 386; 55. Spencer Bayston, 385; 56. Harli White, 384; 57. Dominic Scelzi, 384; 58. Logan Schuchart, 384; 59. Skylar Gee, 380; 60. Jeff Swindell, 377; 61. Scotty Thiel, 377; 62. Anthony Macri, 371; 63. Bill Balog, 364; 64. Chase Johnson, 364; 65. Skylar Prochaska, 363; 66. Cale Conley, 359; 67. Sammy Swindell, 359; 68. Travis Rilat, 356; 69. Shane Stewart, 355; 70. Marcus Dumesny, 353; 71. A.J. Moeller, 341; 72. Ryan Roberts, 337; 73. T.J. Stutts, 337; 74. Roger Crockett, 329; 75. Hunter Schuerenberg, 329; 76. Kevin Thomas Jr., 322; 77. Shane Golobic, 319; 78. Craig Dollansky, 317; 79. Chad Kemenah, 313; 80. Willie Croft, 312; 81. Greg Wilson, 310; 82. Chase Wanner, 309; 83. Jack Dover, 308; 84. Lance Moss, 307; 85. Rusty Hickman, 305; 86. Freddie Rahmer, 302; 87. Chris Martin, 298; 88. Andrew Scheuerle, 297; 89. Josh Schneiderman, 296; 90. Jake Bubak, 294; 91. Don Droud Jr., 294; 92. Derek Hagar, 279; 93. Brodie Tulloch, 277; 94. Sawyer Phillips, 273; 95. Joe Simbro, 270; 96. Bobby Mincer, 270; 97. John Garvin, 269; 98. Joey Moughan, 267; 99. Brian Paulus, 260; 100. Davey Heskin, 258; 101. Matt Moro, 256; 102. Robbie Price, 237; 103. Tom Harris, 236; 104. Zach Hampton, 227; 105. Glen Saville, 226; 106. Kevin Ingle, 224; 107. R.J. Johnson, 209; 108. Adam Cruea, 202; 109. Caleb Helms, 195.