Larson Wins the Dean Knittel Memorial

Kyle Larson. (Dan McFarland photo)

From Tyler Altmeyer

HARTFORD, Ohio (July 10, 2020) — ‘Yung Money’ Kyle Larson was certainly ‘money’ on Friday night during the annual Dean Knittel Memorial at Portsmouth Raceway Park, not only scoring his second Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires main event win in four tries, but the Elk Grove, California-native secured $15,554 in the process, simultaneously bumping his 2020 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 season win count to six.

Starting from the pole position by way of dash result, Larson was nearly untouchable during the 30-lap contest, escaping to a hefty advantage right from the drop of the green flag. The driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Tarlton and Sons/Lucas Oil/Durst/Finley Farms/No. 57 sprint car reached slower cars by lap five, and although a few near-close calls with lapped traffic may have forced Larson to tap the brake pedal, his momentum never shifted, still placing two to three lapped cars between himself and second-place running Aaron Reutzel.

The main event’s first and only caution, occurring with five laps remaining, did give Reutzel an opportunity to restart on the back bumper of Larson, but it did not matter. The Clute, Texas-native was forced to settle for second, followed by Brock Zearfoss, Shane Stewart, and Cole Duncan.

With all bonuses considered, Kyle Larson collected upwards of $18,000 at Portsmouth, as extra money was awarded for his respective dash victory, as well as his overall fast time during qualifying time trials and for leading lap 15 during the 30-lap feature.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of pace you set, Aaron (Reutzel) seems to find a way to match what you’re doing, so I was trying to go as hard as I could,” Kyle Larson said in Portsmouth victory lane. “It was good to hold on and get another big payday.

“I was hoping we weren’t going to catch traffic again, but we ended up reaching the back anyhow,” Larson said of his restart with five laps remaining. “But what makes these cars fun is that we don’t have mirrors, so it makes you a little nervous of what’s going on behind you. Just another great race car. And thanks to all of you who help out on this car. We certainly couldn’t do it without each and every one of you. And thanks to all of you fans. This place is really neat and I’m glad I got the chance to race here.”

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
Dean Knittel Memorial
Portsmouth Raceway Park
Portsmouth, Ohio
Friday July 10, 2020

Lincoln Electirc Qualifying
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.646[19]
2. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.691[8]
3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.698[11]
4. 12N-Joey Saldana, 13.888[3]
5. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.896[7]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.939[4]
7. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.968[1]
8. 11-Zeb Wise, 14.017[12]
9. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.154[10]
10. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.222[30]
11. 4-Cap Henry, 14.253[5]
12. 81-Lee Jacobs, 14.293[6]
13. 17-Josh Baughman, 14.303[24]
14. 21-Brinton Marvel, 14.331[9]
15. 26-Cory Eliason, 14.380[38]
16. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.385[14]
17. 99-Skylar Gee, 14.388[27]
18. 1B-Keith Baxter, 14.389[13]
19. 28-Tim Shaffer, 14.439[17]
20. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.450[20]
21. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 14.457[16]
22. 15K-Chad Kemenah, 14.510[15]
23. 70-Sye Lynch, 14.526[25]
24. 5H-Jordan Harble, 14.533[2]
25. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 14.623[37]
26. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 14.631[21]
27. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 14.678[33]
28. 54-Danny Smith, 14.703[18]
29. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 14.760[28]
30. 19R-Jordan Ryan, 14.797[32]
31. 59-Bryan Nuckles, 15.178[23]
32. 23-Cole Macedo, 15.248[36]
33. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 15.392[22]
34. 83X-Nate Reeser, 15.590[35]
35. 9W-Lance Webb, 15.609[34]
36. 40I-Mark Imler, 15.933[29]
37. 1-Jamie Myers, 15.989[31]
38. 15-Mitch Harble, 59.998[39]
39. 22D-Josh Davis, 59.999[26]

Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]
2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]
3. 22C-Cole Duncan[5]
4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]
5. 13-Paul McMahan[4]

Ford Performance Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[1]
2. 13-Paul McMahan[2]
3. 71-Shane Stewart[4]
4. 81-Lee Jacobs[8]
5. 24-Rico Abreu[6]
6. 12N-Joey Saldana[3]
7. 5H-Jordan Harble[10]
8. 4-Cap Henry[7]
9. 21-Brinton Marvel[9]
10. 3C-Cale Conley[5]

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[1]
2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]
3. 11-Zeb Wise[2]
4. 57-Kyle Larson[4]
5. 1B-Keith Baxter[5]
6. 54-Danny Smith[10]
7. 15K-Chad Kemenah[9]
8. 22B-Ryan Broughton[8]
9. W20-Greg Wilson[7]
10. 28-Tim Shaffer[6]

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 4X-Jimmy Stinson[6]
2. 59-Bryan Nuckles[7]
3. 99-Skylar Gee[2]
4. 22C-Cole Duncan[4]
5. 21N-Frankie Nervo[8]
6. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr[5]
7. 22D-Josh Davis[10]
8. 17-Josh Baughman[3]
9. 40I-Mark Imler[9]
10. 70-Sye Lynch[1]

Mobil 1 Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason[4]
2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]
3. 19R-Jordan Ryan[1]
4. A79-Brandon Wimmer[2]
5. 23-Cole Macedo[5]
6. 9W-Lance Webb[7]
7. 1-Jamie Myers[8]
8. 83X-Nate Reeser[6]
DNS: 15-Mitch Harble

Kears Speed Shop Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]
2. 71-Shane Stewart[2]
3. 4X-Jimmy Stinson[5]
4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]
5. 26-Cory Eliason[4]

Classic Ink USA B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 17-Josh Baughman[11]
2. 12N-Joey Saldana[1]
3. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr[3]
4. 15K-Chad Kemenah[6]
5. 54-Danny Smith[4]
6. W20-Greg Wilson[15]
7. 22D-Josh Davis[9]
8. 9W-Lance Webb[5]
9. 22B-Ryan Broughton[12]
10. 1-Jamie Myers[8]
11. 4-Cap Henry[10]
12. 21-Brinton Marvel[14]
13. 70-Sye Lynch[18]
14. 5H-Jordan Harble[7]
15. 40I-Mark Imler[16]
16. 83X-Nate Reeser[13]
DNS: 3C-Cale Conley
DNS: 28-Tim Shaffer

Ollies Bargain Outlet A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]
2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]
3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]
4. 71-Shane Stewart[3]
5. 22C-Cole Duncan[6]
6. 4X-Jimmy Stinson[5]
7. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]
8. 11-Zeb Wise[12]
9. 99-Skylar Gee[13]
10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]
11. 13-Paul McMahan[10]
12. 24-Rico Abreu[17]
13. 26-Cory Eliason[9]
14. 19R-Jordan Ryan[14]
15. 59-Bryan Nuckles[11]
16. 23-Cole Macedo[19]
17. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr[23]
18. 81-Lee Jacobs[15]
19. 15K-Chad Kemenah[24]
20. A79-Brandon Wimmer[16]
21. 21N-Frankie Nervo[20]
22. 12N-Joey Saldana[22]
23. 1B-Keith Baxter[18]
24. 17-Josh Baughman[21]
25. 70-Sye Lynch[25]
26. 54-Danny Smith[26]