From Tyler Altmeyer
TAMPA, FL (February 11, 2020) – Certainly synonymous with winning, especially in an open wheel automobile, ‘Yung Money’ Kyle Larson nearly swept Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 action on Tuesday night at East Bay Raceway Park, eventually leading every circuit of the inaugural Jean Lynch Classic presented by Winn-Dixie for a $5,000 payday.
The 30-lap triumph, the product of an outside-front row starting position, was just one portion of Larson’s near-domination to close-out the 2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Florida visit. The Elk Grove, California-native set the evening’s fastest time during qualifying time trials followed by a convincing victory during the second of two dashes.
Capping an East Bay visit that concluded with back-to-back runner-up performances, former World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year Ian Madsen finished second on Tuesday night, followed by Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason, a hard-charging Aaron Reutzel, who advanced ten positions, and ‘Smoke’ Tony Stewart.
“My goal here as of lately was to get to the double-digit win mark in the (NASCAR) off-season and we were able to get number ten here tonight,” Kyle Larson explained, driver of the Paul Silva-owned, Chevrolet Accessories, Finley Farms, No. 57 sprint car. “That’s not a bad stretch of races since Homestead ended. Hopefully we can move on and win a bunch of NASCAR races with Chip Ganassi Racing.”
Untouchable from start to finish, Larson’s only real challenges were in the form of cautions and lapped traffic, with the first caution appearing on lap seven and again on lap 29, ultimately setting up a two-lap dash to the finish. Needless to say, the momentum shifts proved to be no harm to the familiar No. 57, keeping KCP Racing’s Ian Madsen in the rearview mirror the entire distance even when traffic hit its peak during a 22-lap green flag stretch that extended until lap 29. The caution with two circuits remaining erased a near-five second advantage for Larson.
“I just felt good all night long and it’s really fun to have a car like that. I was actually looking forward to traffic because I knew I had such a good car,” Larson said, who now owns ten All Star Circuit of Champions victories. “I really didn’t want to see that last caution because the pace started to slow down in three and four and I was lapping guys around the bottom. You never know where second is, so you gotta figure they would probably go where I wasn’t. I was planning on going to the bottom so I was hoping they wouldn’t get around me. It all worked out great.
“It has been a struggle the last week or so,” Larson continued. “So it feels good to come to East Bay and be really good.”
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
East Bay Raceway Park
Tampa, FL
Tuesday February 11, 2020
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.178
2. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.445
3. 28F-Davie Franek, 13.476
4. 1-Jamie Myers, 13.707
5. 4x-Carson McCarl, 13.735
6. 44-Trey Starks, 13.755
7. 25-Chris Myers, 13.808
8. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 14.075
9. 40i-Mark Imler, 14.322
Group (B)
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 12.879
2. 4t-Terry McCarl, 12.976
3. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.038
4. 21-Brian Brown, 13.167
5. M1-Mark Smith, 13.302
6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.357
7. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.378
8. 7B-Ben Brown, 14.072
9. 121-Steve Glover, 14.392
Group (C)
1. 13-Paul McMahan, 12.982
2. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.198
3. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 13.207
4. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.261
5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 13.372
6. 4-Danny Smith, 13.410
7. 23-Chase Baker, 13.952
8. 95-Hunter Mackison, 13.964
9. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 13.968
Group (D)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.480
2. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.824
3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.182
4. 5-Brent Marks, 13.304
5. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.317
6. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.438
7. 197-Ryan Harrison, 14.390
8. 4b-Billy Boyd Jr., 99.590
Heat Race ##1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [4]
2. 28F-Davie Franek [2]
3. W20-Greg Wilson [3]
4. 1-Jamie Myers [1]
5. 1080-Jordan Mackison [8]
6. 44-Trey Starks [6]
7. 4X-Carson McCarl [5]
8. 40I-Mark Imler [9]
9. 25-Chris Myers [7]
Heat Race ##2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]
2. 3C-Cale Conley [2]
3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]
4. 4T-Terry McCarl [3]
5. M1-Mark Smith [5]
6. 28-Tim Shaffer [7]
7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]
8. 7B-Ben Brown [8]
9. 121-Steve Glover [9]
Heat Race ##3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 18-Ian Madsen [1]
2. 13-Paul McMahan [4]
3. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]
4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [5]
5. 4-Danny Smith [6]
6. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]
7. 23-Chase Baker [7]
8. 18J-RJ Jacobs [9]
9. 15K-Chad Kemenah [2]
Heat Race ##4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]
2. 5-Brent Marks [1]
3. 57-Kyle Larson [4]
4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]
5. 40-George Hobaugh [5]
6. 197-Ryan Harrison [7]
7. 49H-Bradley Howard [6]
8. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Ian Madsen [1]
2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]
3. 14-Tony Stewart [4]
4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]
5. 21-Brian Brown [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]
2. 3C-Cale Conley [2]
3. 4T-Terry McCarl [3]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]
5. W20-Greg Wilson [4]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 15K-Chad Kemenah [2]
2. 28-Tim Shaffer [3]
3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [1]
4. 44-Trey Starks [4]
5. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]
6. 49H-Bradley Howard [7]
7. 4X-Carson McCarl [8]
8. 18J-RJ Jacobs [10]
9. 25-Chris Myers [14]
10. 23-Chase Baker [9]
11. 7B-Ben Brown [11]
12. 197-Ryan Harrison [6]
13. 40I-Mark Imler [12]
14. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [13]
15. 121-Steve Glover [15]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]
2. 18-Ian Madsen [1]
3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]
4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [14]
5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]
6. 3C-Cale Conley [4]
7. 13-Paul McMahan [7]
8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8]
9. W20-Greg Wilson [10]
10. 5-Brent Marks [11]
11. M1-Mark Smith [17]
12. 4T-Terry McCarl [6]
13. 48-Danny Dietrich [13]
14. 28F-Davie Franek [12]
15. 21-Brian Brown [9]
16. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [15]
17. 40-George Hobaugh [18]
18. 44-Trey Starks [24]
19. 1-Jamie Myers [16]
20. 28-Tim Shaffer [22]
21. 1080-Jordan Mackison [20]
22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [23]
23. 4-Danny Smith [19]
24. 15K-Chad Kemenah [21]
Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson (1-30)
Contingency Awards/Results: East Bay Raceway Park – Tuesday, February 11, 2020:
Event: Jean Lynch Classic presented by Winn-Dixie
Entries: 35
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Cory Eliason – 13.374 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 12.480 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Tony Stewart
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Brian Brown
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Ian Madsen
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Brock Zearfoss
JE Pistons Dash #1: Ian Madsen
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #2: Kyle Larson
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner:
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Hunter Mackison
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Aaron Reutzel (+10)
(Lincoln Electric, Hercules Tire, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)