By Bob Baker
KNOXVILLE, IOWA (August 8, 2012) – Following nine mains in six nights, Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, California, also known as “Young Money,” has widened his lead in the 2012 Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa Speed Week points. Kyle won Tuesday night’s $15,000-to-win United States Auto Club (USAC) Ultimate Challenge finale at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa. Mike Van Haaften also won last night’s winged 305-cubic-inch sprint car feature. Night number seven of ten straight nights of sprint car racing is Wednesday night back at Knoxville Raceway with the first preliminary night of the Knoxville Nationals for the winged ‘410’ sprint cars.
The unofficial top twenty in the 2012 Cox Design Iowa Speed Week points after nine mains in six nights is as follows: 1., Kyle Larson, 237 points; 2., Brady Bacon, 201 points; 3., Brian Brown, 185 points; 4., Tim Kaeding, 183 points; 5., Brad Sweet, 152 points; 6., Tim Shaffer, 141 points; 7., Danny Lasoski, 136 points; 8., Shane Stewart, 135 points; 9., Jason Johnson, 124 points; 10., Kaley Gharst, 121 points; 11., Brooke Tatnell, 120 points; 12., Paul McMahan, 119 points; 13., Alan Ambers, 115 points; 14., Wayne Johnson, 114 points; 15., Daryn Pittman, 110 points; 16., Rager Phillips, 109 points; 17., Kevin Swindell, 107 points, 18., Justin Henderson, 106 points; 19., Roger Crockett, Dusty Zomer, 103 points (tied).
The Cox Design & Metal Fabrication Iowa Speedweek includes ten straight nights of sprint car racing between Knoxville Raceway and the Southern Iowa Speedway. The top three places pay $2,500, $1,000, and $500, respectively, with the winner declared the Jesse Hockett “Mr. Sprint Car” titlist. Past “Mr. Sprint Car” titlists include Ricky Logan (2002) of Arkansas, Shane Stewart (2003, ’04) of Oklahoma, Billy Alley (2005) of Nebraska, Jason Johnson (2006) of Louisiana, Wayne Johnson (2007, ‘08) of Oklahoma, Terry McCarl (2009) of Iowa, and Sammy Swindell (2010, ‘11) of Tennessee.