By Tyler Altmeyer
WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa (July 31, 2020) – Celebrating his 28th birthday in a big way, Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson conquered Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 competition yet again, this time during a Friday night visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The victory, Larson’s 12th of the season with the traveling All Stars, as well as the 21st of his career during Series competition, was accomplished from the outside of the second row, eventually tracking down race leader and evening pole sitter, Cory Eliason, just before the midpoint of the 30-lap program.
Larson’s trek to the front commenced right from the drop of the green. After powering into third on the opening lap, Larson utilized a pair of cautions, a red flag incident on lap four, followed by another slow down on lap seven, to keep the top-two in check, ultimately sneaking around Austin McCarl for second following the lap seven restart. Meanwhile, Cory Eliason was the man in charge, doing his best to run away in clean air.
Although Eliason’s pace seemed untouchable, lapped traffic created an instant roadblock for the Visalia, California-native giving Larson the chance to close the gap in a hurry. By lap 12, the lead pair were engulfed in slower cars. They raced nearly nose-to-tail throughout the twelfth circuit before Larson made his winning move the following trip around 34 Raceway. A slingshot move through turns three and four sealed the deal allowing Larson to drive by the Rudeen Racing No. 26.
Periods of even heavier traffic did allow Eliason to keep pace with the leader, but Larson’s move to put Zeb Wise a lap down on lap 16 ignited a feeding frenzy for the 2020 USAC Indiana Midget Week and 2020 PA Sprint Speedweek champion. By the time the final checkers were shown, Larson’s advantage stretched to just shy of five seconds. Eliason held on to finish second, followed by Tucker Klaasmeyer, Austin McCarl and Gio Scelzi.
“After that second restart, I knew that I had to try something to get around (Cory Eliason). I knew the top was there, so I just started hammering away at it,” Kyle Larson said in 34 Raceway victory lane, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/Durst/Lucas Oil/Priority Aviation/No. 57 sprint car. “I think he heard me because I noticed he was trying to make himself wide to kinda screw up my momentum, but we were able to get by. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Kyle Larson’s All Star Circuit of Champions win streak now stands at seven, six occurring in consecutive fashion since winning Sharon Speedway’s Salute to the Troops program on Sunday, July 12.
What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will venture further west into the Hawkeye State and pay a visit to the Sprint Car Capital of the World. Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, will host America’s Series on Saturday evening, August 1. The one-night showstopper will award a $5,000 top prize. For more information, please visit Knoxville Raceway online at www.knoxvilleraceway.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: 34 Raceway – July 31, 2020:
Entries: 27
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Kerry Madsen – 13.306
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 13.011
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Cory Eliason
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Austin McCarl
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Gio Scelzi
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Winner: Cory Eliason
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Zach Hampton
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Gerard McIntyre
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (+4)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.011; 2. 17-Josh Baughman, 13.021; 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, 13.169; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.192; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.298; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.313; 7. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.375; 8. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 13.398; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.411; 10. 70-Cale Thomas, 13.422; 11. 17A-Austin McCarl, 13.441; 12. 18-Gio Scelzi, 13.463; 13. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.482; 14. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.487; 15. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.526; 16. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.532; 17. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.598; 18. 35-Zach Hampton, 13.609; 19. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.620; 20. 44S-Trey Starks, 13.653; 21. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.681; 22. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.776; 23. 21-Brian Brown, 13.816; 24. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.839; 25. 44-Chris Martin, 13.874; 26. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 13.974; 27. 2A-Austin Archdale, 14.686
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 2. 70-Cale Thomas [1]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 6. 71-Shane Stewart [6]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [7]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 9. 44-Chris Martin [9]
Heat #2 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 17A-Austin McCarl [1]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman [2]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [8]; 7. 44S-Trey Starks [7]; 8. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [9]; 9. 11-Zeb Wise [5]
Heat #3 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 3. 9-Kasey Kahne [5]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 5. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [4]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 8. 35-Zach Hampton [6]; 9. 2A-Austin Archdale [9]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 2. 17A-Austin McCarl [1]; 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [8]; 8. 18-Gio Scelzi [7]
B-Main (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 35-Zach Hampton [2]; 2. 44S-Trey Starks [4]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [1]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 6. 44-Chris Martin [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [5]; 8. 2A-Austin Archdale [8]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer [3]; 4. 17A-Austin McCarl [2]; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi [8]; 6. 49-Josh Schneiderman [9]; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen [10]; 8. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [7]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne [11]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel [12]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 12. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [16]; 13. 13-Paul McMahan [14]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee [13]; 15. 71-Shane Stewart [15]; 16. 17-Josh Baughman [5]; 17. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [21]; 18. 35-Zach Hampton [18]; 19. 44-Chris Martin [23]; 20. 11-Zeb Wise [20]; 21. 21-Brian Brown [17]; 22. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 23. 44S-Trey Starks [19]; 24. 70-Cale Thomas [24] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-12), Kyle Larson (13-30)
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of July 31, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 3772
2. Cory Eliason – 3658
3. Paul McMahan – 3540
4. Zeb Wise – 3504
5. Josh Baughman – 3278
6. Skylar Gee – 3276
7. Greg Wilson – 3228
8. Brock Zearfoss – 2404
9. Kyle Larson – 2402
10. Danny Dietrich – 2336