From Brian Walker
TULARE, CA (March 12, 2022) — Kyle Larson has said for years that Thunderbowl Raceway is his favorite track. He further proved that this weekend by pulling out all the stops to make sure he competed in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series return to the Tulare, CA facility.
The 29-year-old Elk Grove, CA native hadn’t raced at the technical 1/3-mile since his memorable Trophy Cup title in 2013 and was extra motivated to make it happen with his NASCAR Cup Series obligations only 500 miles away at Phoenix Raceway this weekend.
Larson’s chaotic travel plans (which included four flights in two days) were made possible by Jason Finley’s plane, Paul Silva’s wrench, Kevin Kozlowski’s Sprint Car, and Cliff Daniels’ approval. A quick synopsis of his 48-hour span looks like this:
• FRIDAY – Landed in Tulare in the afternoon, finished third in World of Outlaws Feature, took a plane back to Phoenix.
• SATURDAY – Qualified 7th in Phoenix (12:15 pm), flew to Tulare, wins World of Outlaws Feature (10 pm), back to Phoenix.
• SUNDAY – Starts NASCAR Cup Series race at 12:30 pm in Team Hendrick #5.
He paid them all back by doing what he does best – winning. After starting sixth, Larson drove by Sweet, both Scelzi’s, Eliason, and Bayston to take the lead by Lap 19 and then run off with his 25th career World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature win.
It marked his first Sprint Car triumph of the 2022 season and added Kevin Kozlowski to the record books with his first-career World of Outlaws win as a car owner of the Finley Farms, HendrickCars.com, JVI Group #57.
The victory made it a clean sweep of the weekend at Tulare by California natives with Fresno’s Giovanni Scelzi winning on Friday. For Larson, it was his first World of Outlaws triumph at the Thunderbowl and brings him to five Series wins inside his home state.
“Central California fans are some of the best in the country,” Larson told a nearly sold-out crowd at Tulare. “I always love getting to race in front of these people, especially at places I grew up at. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but it was technical and kind of old school the way I remember Tulare. This is amazing. I owe a huge thank you to Jason Finley, Kevin Kozlowski, Paul Silva, Cliff Daniels, a lot of people who made this weekend happen. We’ve still got one more win to chase tomorrow.”
Following the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to the checkered flag was none other than his brother-in-law, Brad Sweet. The Big Cat put together a season-best second-place finish on Saturday in the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49. The Grass Valley, CA native remains winless at Tulare, but the three-time and defending World of Outlaws champion believes they’re trending upward as the California swing continues.
“It was fun to be back,” Sweet said after a three-year hiatus from the Thunderbowl ended this weekend. “It’s especially fun to race against Kyle because he really makes everyone step up and elevate our game to another level. I don’t know how many realize the things he can do in a race car is amazing. I was searching around trying to make something happen when I caught clean air with him ahead, but just couldn’t make up enough ground.”
Current championship leader David Gravel continues to produce unrivaled consistency in 2022, this time finishing third for his fourth podium in seven starts. His drive aboard the Big Game Motorsports #2 is especially impressive when you consider that the Watertown, CT native was as deep as 13th at one point in Saturday’s Feature.
“We really want those wins, but I know if we keep rolling like this the wins will take care of themselves,” Gravel noted. “I almost crashed, hit the infield wall, jumped a tire, just everything happened tonight. I’ll take a third at the end of the day.”
After leading the opening nine laps, Spencer Bayston fell back to finish a season-best fourth in the CJB Motorsports #5. He was followed by Rico Abreu with a second-straight top-five finish since bringing Ricky Warner on as crew chief.
Rounding out the top-10 at Tulare were Californians Cory Eliason, Dominic Scelzi, Carson Macedo, and Giovanni Scelzi, with Sheldon Haudenschild earning KSE Hard Charger honors for a 21st-to-10th run.
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Thunderbowl Raceway
Tulare, California
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Qualifying (2 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.263[30]
2. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.277[5]
3. 16A-Colby Copeland, 13.278[1]
4. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.286[9]
5. 5-Spencer Bayston, 13.308[11]
6. 57W-Tyler Courtney, 13.320[4]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.328[17]
8. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.366[2]
9. 2-David Gravel, 13.381[28]
10. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.396[16]
11. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 13.401[14]
12. 88-Austin McCarl, 13.425[8]
13. 21-Mitchell Faccinto, 13.453[3]
14. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.492[20]
15. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.496[13]
16. 41-Carson Macedo, 13.505[27]
17. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.528[18]
18. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.545[23]
19. 83-James McFadden, 13.554[26]
20. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson, 13.560[6]
21. 17W-Shane Golobic, 13.587[15]
22. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.623[25]
23. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.676[19]
24. 24X-Chase Johnson, 13.688[7]
25. 20G-Noah Gass, 13.706[10]
26. 14-Corey Day, 13.725[32]
27. 88N-DJ Netto, 13.791[22]
28. 83JR-Kerry Madsen, 13.827[24]
29. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.931[21]
30. 2K-JJ Ringo, 13.943[12]
31. 6-Bill Rose, 14.005[31]
32. 3-Kaleb Montgomery, 14.020[29]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet[1]
2. 5-Spencer Bayston[2]
3. 2-David Gravel[3]
4. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[4]
5. 17W-Shane Golobic[6]
6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]
7. 20G-Noah Gass[7]
8. 7S-Jason Sides[8]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]
2. 57-Kyle Larson[6]
3. 57W-Tyler Courtney[2]
4. 24-Rico Abreu[4]
5. 11K-Kraig Kinser[1]
6. 15-Donny Schatz[5]
7. 2K-JJ Ringo[8]
8. 14-Corey Day[7]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen[2]
2. 16A-Colby Copeland[1]
3. 83-James McFadden[5]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]
5. 83T-Tanner Carrick[3]
6. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]
7. 88N-DJ Netto[7]
8. 6-Bill Rose[8]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[2]
2. 26-Cory Eliason[1]
3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]
4. 88-Austin McCarl[3]
5. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[7]
6. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson[5]
7. 24X-Chase Johnson[6]
8. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[8]
DIRTVision FAST PASS Dash (6 Laps)
1. 5-Spencer Bayston[1]
2. 26-Cory Eliason[2]
3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[3]
4. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]
5. 49-Brad Sweet[8]
6. 57-Kyle Larson[7]
7. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]
8. 16A-Colby Copeland[6]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[1]
2. 15-Donny Schatz[2]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]
4. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson[4]
5. 24X-Chase Johnson[8]
6. 88N-DJ Netto[7]
7. 20G-Noah Gass[5]
8. 14-Corey Day[10]
9. 2K-JJ Ringo[6]
10. 7S-Jason Sides[9]
11. 6-Bill Rose[11]
12. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[12]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson[6]
2. 49-Brad Sweet[5]
3. 2-David Gravel[9]
4. 5-Spencer Bayston[1]
5. 24-Rico Abreu[14]
6. 26-Cory Eliason[2]
7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[3]
8. 41-Carson Macedo[12]
9. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]
10. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[21]
11. 21-Mitchell Faccinto[13]
12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[23]
13. 88-Austin McCarl[16]
14. 17W-Shane Golobic[17]
15. 83-James McFadden[11]
16. 1A-Jacob Allen[7]
17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[15]
18. 57W-Tyler Courtney[10]
19. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson[24]
20. 11K-Kraig Kinser[18]
21. 83T-Tanner Carrick[19]
22. 20G-Noah Gass[25]
23. 16A-Colby Copeland[8]
24. 15-Donny Schatz[22]
25. 83JR-Kerry Madsen[20]
Winged 360 Sprint Cars
Qualifying (2 Laps)
1. 41-Dominic Scelzi, 14.171[24]
2. 35M-Chase Majdic, 14.191[20]
3. 19-Colby Thornhill, 14.361[9]
4. 6C-Travis Coelho, 14.367[1]
5. 10F-Jared Faria, 14.387[22]
6. 5-Cole Danell, 14.391[3]
7. 67G-Grant Duinkerken, 14.405[4]
8. 33-Tucker Worth, 14.433[17]
9. 121-Caeden Steele, 14.485[6]
10. 28-Chase Johnson, 14.492[10]
11. 36-Craig Stidham, 14.514[19]
12. 46JR-Joel Myers, 14.573[21]
13. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 14.587[16]
14. 5A-Daniel Whitley, 14.651[11]
15. 2-Brooklyn Holland, 14.666[23]
16. 88A-Joey Ancona, 14.682[15]
17. 21X-Gauge Garcia, 14.695[7]
18. 3-Brandon Stidham, 14.711[8]
19. 10-Michael Pombo, 14.752[12]
20. 75-Brendan Warmerdam, 14.753[14]
21. 7P-Jake Andreotti, 14.794[5]
22. 5D-Connor Danell, 14.839[2]
23. 7Z-Zane Blanchard, 14.874[18]
24. 37-Steven Kent, 14.889[13]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 28-Chase Johnson[1]
2. 67G-Grant Duinkerken[2]
3. 41-Dominic Scelzi[4]
4. 88A-Joey Ancona[6]
5. 83T-Tanner Carrick[5]
6. 5D-Connor Danell[8]
7. 10-Michael Pombo[7]
8. 6C-Travis Coelho[3]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 33-Tucker Worth[2]
2. 35M-Chase Majdic[4]
3. 36-Craig Stidham[1]
4. 5A-Daniel Whitley[5]
5. 21X-Gauge Garcia[6]
6. 7Z-Zane Blanchard[8]
7. 75-Brendan Warmerdam[7]
8. 10F-Jared Faria[3]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 19-Colby Thornhill[4]
2. 2-Brooklyn Holland[5]
3. 5-Cole Danell[3]
4. 37-Steven Kent[8]
5. 7P-Jake Andreotti[7]
6. 46JR-Joel Myers[1]
7. 3-Brandon Stidham[6]
8. 121-Caeden Steele[2]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 19-Colby Thornhill[4]
2. 41-Dominic Scelzi[5]
3. 35M-Chase Majdic[2]
4. 88A-Joey Ancona[11]
5. 28-Chase Johnson[3]
6. 36-Craig Stidham[8]
7. 2-Brooklyn Holland[10]
8. 83T-Tanner Carrick[17]
9. 67G-Grant Duinkerken[7]
10. 46JR-Joel Myers[16]
11. 37-Steven Kent[12]
12. 7P-Jake Andreotti[22]
13. 121-Caeden Steele[15]
14. 21X-Gauge Garcia[18]
15. 5A-Daniel Whitley[9]
16. 5D-Connor Danell[23]
17. 7Z-Zane Blanchard[24]
18. 10-Michael Pombo[20]
19. 3-Brandon Stidham[19]
20. 6C-Travis Coelho[13]
21. 5-Cole Danell[6]
22. 10F-Jared Faria[14]
23. 33-Tucker Worth[1]
DNS: 75-Brendan Warmerdam