From Tyler Altmeyer
PARK CITY, Kan. (June 7, 2020) – For the second time in 2020, and for the 11th time in his career, ‘Yung Money’ Kyle Larson is an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, this time during Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires competition at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas. Snagging $5,000 in the process, the wire-to-wire victory was extra satisfying for the Elk Grove, California-native, creating a sense of redemption after finishing second in a wild main event at Red Dirt Raceway on Friday, June 5.
“That was a lot of fun. I just want to thank all of the fans for coming out and supporting this race,” Kyle Larson said, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Tarlton and Sons/Finley Farms/Durst/No. 57 sprint car. “It definitely feels good to be out here racing sprint cars.”
Larson’s trip to 81 Speedway victory lane commenced from the outside of row one, eventually upgrading his runner-up starting position to the race lead with a slider over Cory Eliason through turns three and four. Although the move would result in abrupt contact with the turn four cushion bringing the familiar No. 57 to a slight wheel stand while exiting the corner, Larson prevailed and crossed under the flagstand with the race lead.
The preferred line around the very topside of the speedway soon moved to the low side, as an abrasive surface forced the entire field, including the race leader, to switch focus to the inside line. By lap ten, the entire field was utilizing 81 Speedway’s bottom groove, already mastered by Angola, Indiana’s Zeb Wise who climbed six spots to find second by lap seven.
Despite countless attempts by Larson to increase his lead in traffic, Wise proved himself to be just as maneuverable through the roadblocks, eventually eradicating all slower cars between himself and the race leader. A caution on lap 18 would give Wise a chance to capitalize, but the opportunity to drive by Larson did not occur until lap 24 of 25.
While hugging the bottom of the speedway, Larson missed his entry into turn one allowing Wise a chance to sneak through. The near-side-by-side battle soon fell into Larson’s favor, driving on to score the $5,000 payday over Wise, Cory Eliason, Dominic Scelzi, and Tony Stewart.
“I knew I needed to be aggressive at the start because it was a shorter race,” Larson continued. “I was able to get the lead on the first lap and then I just followed the cushion. I started to notice that I could make-up a lot of time on entry, but I was either maintaining position, or the lap cars were pulling away from me on exit, so I knew rubber was starting to come into play. Once you get in the rubber, you just try to not make mistakes. I did make a mistake there toward the end and Zeb (Wise) stuck his nose under me. Fortunately, I was able to get back down. At that point, I just needed to calm down and finish it out.”
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions
81 Speedway
Park City, KS
Sunday June 7, 2020
Qualifying
1.41S-Dominic Scelzi, 15.404; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, 15.470; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.512; 4. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.621; 5. 11-Zeb Wise, 15.634; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 15.686; 7. 26-Cory Eliason, 15.729; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak, 15.866; 9. 14-Tony Stewart, 15.904; 10. 99-Skylar Gee, 15.920; 11. 17-Josh Baughman, 15.925; 12. 88N-DJ Netto, 15.930; 13. 41G-Gio Scelzi, 15.986; 14. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.068; 15. 16A-Justin Sanders, 16.080; 16. 13-Paul McMahan, 16.200; 17. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.235; 18. 97-Alan Gilbertson, 16.263; 19. 4-Danny Smith, 16.287; 20. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 16.360; 21. 21-Brian Brown, 16.478; 22. 21P-Robbie Price, 16.553; 23. 52-Blake Hahn, 16.617; 24. 70-Justin Peck, 16.837; 25. 88-Michael Woodruff, 16.991; 26. 15-Mitch Harble, 99.110; Heat #1 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 6. 41G-Gio Scelzi [5]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price [8]; 8. 4-Danny Smith [7]; 9. 88-Michael Woodruff [9]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 1X-Jake Bubak [2]; 2. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [6]; 5. 11-Zeb Wise [3]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn [8]; 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 9. 15-Mitch Harble [9]
Heat #3 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto [1]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 5. 16A-Justin Sanders [5]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [7]; 7. 70-Justin Peck [8]; 8. 97-Alan Gilbertson [6]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [8]; 7. 1X-Jake Bubak [6]; 8. 11-Zeb Wise [7]
B-Main (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 3. 97-Alan Gilbertson [2]; 4. 21P-Robbie Price [4]; 5. 70-Justin Peck [5]; 6. 4-Danny Smith [6]; 7. 15-Mitch Harble [8]; 8. 88-Michael Woodruff [7]
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 11-Zeb Wise [8]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [4]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 9. 21-Brian Brown [17]; 10. 17-Josh Baughman [10]; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [12]; 12. 87-Aaron Reutzel [20]; 13. 48-Danny Dietrich [13]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 15. 88N-DJ Netto [11]; 16. 1X-Jake Bubak [7]; 17. 41G-Gio Scelzi [16]; 18. 70-Justin Peck [23]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn [18]; 20. 16A-Justin Sanders [14]; 21. 13-Paul McMahan [15]; 22. 97-Alan Gilbertson [21]; 23. 21P-Robbie Price [22]; 24. 4-Danny Smith [24] Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson (1-25)
Contingency Awards/Results: 81 Speedway – Sunday, June 7, 2020:
Event: Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires
Entries: 26
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 15.660
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Dominic Scelzi – 15.404
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Cory Eliason
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Jake Bubak
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Tony Stewart
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash Winner: Cory Eliason
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Greg Wilson
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Mitch Harble
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Brian Brown (+8)
(Lincoln Electric, Hercules Tire, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)