By Tyler Altmeyer
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (July 18, 2020) – Kyle Larson’s weekend in the Keystone State has been prosperous, to say the least, first claiming the Tommy Hinnershitz Classic at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, July 17, then topping that prestigious open wheel triumph with a $10,000 victory during night one of Port Royal Speedway’s annual Bob Weikert Memorial featuring the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1.
Larson, who now owns a Series-leading nine All Star Circuit of Champions victories in 2020, started seventh on the Bob Weikert Memorial grid and rallied in a hurry, climbing his way to third just after a single-file restart with only ten laps checked off the counter, then taking second from former track champion, Logan Wagner, at the midpoint of the 30-lap program. At the time, Brent Marks was in charge of the top spot, using his outside-front row starting spot to garner the lead during the initial start.
With traffic acting as a moving roadblock, Larson was able to track down the leader by lap 17, racing to the back bumper of the CJB Motorsports entry before challenging Marks for the top spot two circuits later. An eventual drag race to the flagstand ended in Marks’ favor.
Beat by a nose at the line, Larson redeemed himself the following circuit and made the next move count, eventually slingshotting around Marks at the exit of turn four, narrowly squeezing by the former Outlaw and a lapped car while navigating the very topside of the speedway. The bold move was the winning move for the Elk Grove, California-native, gradually escaping to a lengthy advantage before the final checkers made their appearance.
The All Star victory was Larson’s fourth in four consecutive tries.
“It’s definitely an honor to win this race. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a lot of people compare this run that we’re on to Doug Wolfgang. I never got the chance to watch him race, but I knew he was a legend. To read about all of his wins, and the places that he won at, is pretty unbelievable,” Kyle Larson said in victory lane, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/Durst/Lucas Oil/Glenn Styres Racing/Priority Aviation/No. 57 sprint car. “Port Royal is starting to become one of my favorite tracks. And the atmosphere here is right up there with the Knoxville Nationals. We still have one more night to go, so hopefully we can park back up here in victory lane.”
Brent Marks held on to finish second at Port Royal Speedway, followed by Anthony Macri, Logan Wagner and Lance Dewease.
“My car was really, really good,” Larson continued. “I saw Brent (Marks) and Logan (Wagner) battling right before the last caution and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get by them. Thankfully, Logan was kinda searching for grip which allowed me to gain some momentum on the top and get around him. Then I was able to track Brent down in traffic. I could run about 80-90% and still take care of my tires. The last time I won here, my tires were pretty beat up because I was spinning them so bad. Tonight I just focused on trying to keep my wheel spin down. I’m glad it paid off.”
What’s Next:
Tony Stewart’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will conclude their trek through Central Pennsylvania with night two of the annual Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway on Sunday, July 19. In addition to a $10,000 top prize, an overall Bob Weikert Memorial champion will be crowned with an additional $5,000 on the line. For more information, please visit Port Royal Speedway online at www.portroyalspeedway.com.
Online Coverage:
Each and every event on the 2020 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit www.floracing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. To check out exclusive content, visit https://bit.ly/2XR863e.
Contingency Awards/Results: Port Royal Speedway – July 18, 2020:
Event: Bob Weikert Memorial
Entries: 37
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Brent Marks – 16.139
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: David Gravel – 16.131
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Danny Dietrich
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Mike Wagner
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Robbie Kendall
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: TJ Stutts
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Brock Zearfoss
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Josh Baughman
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Dylan Cisney (+17)
Qualifying
1. 41-David Gravel, 16.131; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease, 16.202; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.409; 4. 98-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.601; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 16.637; 6. 11-Zeb Wise, 16.639; 7. 1-Logan Wagner, 16.647; 8. 25-Tyler Bear, 16.659; 9. 17h-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.726; 10. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 16.765; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri, 16.777; 12. 11T-TJ Stutts, 16.790; 13. 29-Danny Dietrich, 16.823; 14. 2-AJ Flick, 16.867; 15. 5-Brent Marks, 16.879; 16. 39s-Sammy Swindell, 16.890; 17. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 16.930; 18. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.940; 19. 17-Josh Baughman, 16.963; 20. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 16.966; 21. 13-Paul McMahan, 17.004; 22. 55-Mike Wagner, 17.021; 23. 55K-Robbie Kendall, 17.053; 24. W20-Greg Wilson, 17.056; 25. 47K-Kody Lehman, 17.093; 26. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 17.115; 27. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 17.125; 28. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.137; 29. 35-Tyler Reeser, 17.273; 30. 19-Curt Stroup, 17.390; 31. 17M-Kyle Smith, 17.423; 32. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 17.452; 33. 35Q-Zach Hampton, 17.491; 34. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 17.513; 35. 99-Skylar Gee, 17.730; 36. 75-Nicole Bower, 17.863; 37. 24B-Dustin Baney, 19.013;
Heat #1 (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer
1. 29-Danny Dietrich [3]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]; 3. 41-David Gravel [6]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 5. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 7. 35Q-Zach Hampton [9]; 8. 35-Tyler Reeser [8]; 9. 47K-Kody Lehman [7]; 10. 24B-Dustin Baney [10]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer
1. 55-Mike Wagner [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [6]; 4. 2-AJ Flick [3]; 5. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 6. 11-Zeb Wise [5]; 7. 5C-Dylan Cisney [9]; 8. 14-Parker Price-Miller [7]; 9. 19-Curt Stroup [8]
Heat #3 (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer
1. 55K-Robbie Kendall [1]; 2. 5-Brent Marks [3]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 5. 1-Logan Wagner [5]; 6. 17-Josh Baughman [2]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [7]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 9. 17M-Kyle Smith [8]
Heat #4 (8 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer
1. 11T-TJ Stutts [4]; 2. 39S-Sammy Swindell [3]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [7]; 5. 25-Tyler Bear [5]; 6. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [8]; 7. 98-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 8. 2C-Wayne Johnson [2]; 9. 75-Nicole Bower [9]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 4. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [6]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [3]; 6. 5C-Dylan Cisney [11]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [7]; 8. 47K-Kody Lehman [10]; 9. 35-Tyler Reeser [12]; 10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [5]; 11. 35Q-Zach Hampton [9]; 12. 17M-Kyle Smith [15]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee [14]; 14. 75-Nicole Bower [16]; 15. 24B-Dustin Baney [17]; 16. 14-Parker Price-Miller [8]; 17. 19-Curt Stroup [13]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [7]; 2. 5-Brent Marks [2]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [11]; 4. 1-Logan Wagner [3]; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease [5]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [21]; 7. 41-David Gravel [9]; 8. 11-Zeb Wise [12]; 9. 5C-Dylan Cisney [26]; 10. 2-AJ Flick [17]; 11. 55-Mike Wagner [18]; 12. 17h-Sheldon Haudenschild [14]; 13. 87-Aaron Reutzel [8]; 14. 39s-Sammy Swindell [10]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 16. 98-Kyle Reinhardt [13]; 17. 55K-Robbie Kendall [19]; 18. 13-Paul McMahan [23]; 19. 25-Tyler Bear [1]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee [25]; 21. 3-Jac Haudenschild [20]; 22. 35-Tyler Reeser [27]; 23. 29-Danny Dietrich [4]; 24. 2M-Kerry Madsen [15]; 25. 26-Cory Eliason [16]; 26. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [24]; 27. 11T-TJ Stutts [6] Lap Leaders: Brent Marks (1-19), Kyle Larson (20-30)
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of July 18, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 3410
2. Cory Eliason – 3246
3. Paul McMahan – 3156
4. Zeb Wise – 3144
5. Skylar Gee – 2940
6. Greg Wilson – 2920
7. Josh Baughman – 2910
8. Brock Zearfoss – 2292
9. Danny Dietrich – 2194
10. Kyle Larson – 1952