By Richie Murray
Placerville, California (November 15, 2025)โฆโฆโฆAbout 99.8 percent of the time, taking the lead with five laps remaining en route to pocketing a $20,000 payday would be cause for a joyous occasion, a jubilant moment that would forever be one of the highlight moments of a season, and perhaps, even a career.
For Daison Pursley, Saturday nightโs USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship Hangtown 100 victory at Californiaโs Placerville Speedway was anything but.
On the 96th circuit of the 100-lap feature, Pursley (Locust Grove, Oklahoma) took his shot at Kyle Larson for the lead. However, as he dove low into turn one, Pursley appeared to clip the berm on the inside of the track with his left front tire. A split second later, Pursley was sliding up the racetrack until his right rear tire had a direct meeting with Larsonโs left front tire.
The resulting contact launched Larson airborne over the cushion where his car helicoptered 3.5 times before landing on its side clear over in turn two. After Larson climbed out and saddled up to the edge of the track, he gave Pursley a sarcastic applause and a double thumbs up.
The chorus of boos and โbirdsโ suddenly appearing from the frenzied crowd was unmistakable in the immediate aftermath and even included an item or two hurled over the front straightaway fence by spectators aimed in the direction of Pursley.
When Pursley crossed the finish line as the race winner, the umbrage was multiplied to a deafening roar from the throng of Larson supporters on hand at the 1/4-mile dirt oval, the racetrack where Larson cut his teeth as a teenage racer.
Now nursing a broken right shock as a result of the accident, Pursley finished the final five laps to earn his second consecutive series victory, and the 11th of his career, in his CB Industries/PristineAuction.com โ NOS Energy Drink โ TRD โ Mobil 1/Spike/Speedway Toyota.
Forgoing the usual cage stand and fist pump reserved for such a special moment, Pursley was completely subdued, apologetic and remorseful at how the events transpired down the stretch.
โI just hit the grease; I felt like I had a run on him,โ Pursley explained. โI donโt want to win the race like that. I apologize to Kyle and them. I know thatโs not how I want to race and how he wants to be raced. It just sucks. I donโt even want to celebrate this. I donโt want to race like that at all.โ
After starting fourth on the grid in the 25-car field, Pursley never strayed outside the top-four throughout the entire 100-lap distance. After moving up to second past Buddy Kofoid with 10 laps to go, Pursley did something nobody had done all night โ stick with Larson.
Rounding the high side of turn four on lap 96, Pursley found himself right on the back of Larsonโs bumper off turn four. Pursleyโs one and only opportunity at the win may very well have been in this very moment, and Pursley shot his shot.
โI just hate it,โ Pursley stated. โI felt like I was trying super hard. You only get a couple of times where you get to race and almost beat Kyle. I just messed up down there and hit the grease, pushed out a little bit and off he went over my right rear.โ
As far as Larson, the recently crowned two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion took the lead before midway and led a race-high 52 laps. Seemingly, he was well on his way to an unprecedented third career Hangtown 100 victory, regularly pushing his lead out to 1.5 seconds during each green flag stint. That is, until it all crumpled into a heap just five laps from the finish line.
โHe surprised me on entry into one and hit the grease and I kind of had nowhere to go,โ Larson observed. โItโs a bummer, but I get it because my entry was closed off, so he was going to have to pull the trigger right there. โOh well,โ I guess. I wish it wouldnโt have happened and Iโm sure he wishes it wouldnโt have happened too.โ
Pursley reiterated his point that in no way was it intentional by any means. Rather, it was a split decision from the cockpit that went askew and awry, and ultimately, resulted in major misfortune for Larson.
โI definitely want to go talk to Kyle,โ Pursley stated. โI know heโs not going to be very appreciative of me right now and thatโs absolutely understandable. Iโll go down there and take my ass chewing and continue on and try to get better as a racecar driver and everything. But like I said, and Iโll say it forever, I donโt want to race anybody like that.โ
Aside from the late-race wildness, the entire Hangtown 100 weekend was under siege from Mother Nature. Nearly 3.5 inches of rain fell on Placerville Speedway on Friday, washing out the opening night of the event. A rearranged early afternoon start on Saturday was put into action due to the threat of more rain in the forecast for later that night, and then fell shortly after the checkered flag.
The other constant in the program was calamity. On the opening lap of the feature, Jacob Denney (5th) got sideways on in turn three, which triggered a chain reaction. In all, seven drivers were collected in the melee, including Denney, Kevin Thomas Jr., Justin Grant, Carson Macedo, Gavin Miller, Cannon McIntosh and Hayden Reinbold who was the lone driver in the fracas to flip upside down.
Denney was the only driver not to return. Meanwhile, Grant (5th), McIntosh (7th) and Thomas (9th) all restarted and managed to record top-10 finishes.
On lap 29, 2025 USAC Western States Midget champion Caden Sarale found trouble as he flipped in turn one on the 29th lap while running 20th. The incident happened just in front of the leaders, forcing evasive action by Corey Day (1st) and Larson (2nd) to successfully avoid contact.
Kale Drake (9th) was the next tumbler as he flipped in turn two on lap 38 after clipping the infield berm. He also went back to the tail of the field and returned to finish a solid 10th.
Buddy Kofoid led the initial 14 laps before pole sitter Day took over on the 15th lap. Soon, 11th place starting Larson was surging as he put four wheels above the cushion to ride his way into the lead on the 44th lap.
Day, who led 29 laps, remained nestled in the second position until lap 59 when he climbed the left rear tire of the lapped car of Gavin Miller on entry into turn three and began a series of nasty end-over-end flip from which he was able to walk away from.
The mandatory competition stoppage window, scheduled between laps 40-60, arrived following Dayโs accident, allowing teams to make changes and refuel for the final 42-lap sprint. Soon after the restart, on lap 60, Kofoid surpassed Pursley for second and began trying to reel in Larsonโs 1.5 second advantage. Kofoid was going to line up second on the restart with five laps remaining but pulled off due to a mechanical issue.
NTT IndyCar Series competitor Santino Ferrucci (15th) was among the eight drivers who got upside down on the night when he took a lengthy flip over the turn one cushion but was able to climb out and walk away.
Ultimately, Pursley crossed the finish line 0.257 seconds ahead of Steven Snyder Jr. who equaled his career best USAC finish of second. Shane Golobic took third while Landon Brooks picked up Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors with a 21st to fourth run. Justin Grant rounded out the top-five and closed up the USAC National Midget championship race to three points behind Cannon McIntosh who crossed the line in seventh.
Colby charged through the field not once, but twice during the feature. First, he advanced 18th to sixth in the first half of the race before suffering a flat tire. Restarting 22nd, he worked way back up to a sixth place result. That made him the recipient of the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
To begin the night, Kyle Larson topped Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying. It was his 21st career USAC National Midget fast qualifying time, tying him for 22nd place all-time alongside Tony Stewart and Logan Seavey.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: November 15, 2025 โ Placerville Speedway โ Placerville, California โ 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval โ Hangtown 100 โ Golden State Invasion
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 1K, Larson-11.487; 2. Drake Edwards, 83, CBI-11.527; 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 14, 4 Kings-11.599; 4. Jacob Denney, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.622; 5. Daison Pursley, 86, CBI-11.653; 6. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-11.677; 7. Buddy Kofoid, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.696; 8. Corey Day, 4K, Kahne-11.698; 9. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold-Underwood-11.736; 10. Tanner Carrick, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.763; 11. Steven Snyder Jr., 4, RMS-11.771; 12. Gavin Miller, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.773; 13. Carson Macedo, 99AU, Dyson-11.785; 14. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.802; 15. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-11.805; 16. Colby Copeland, 27w, Wood-11.833; 17. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-11.847; 18. Kale Drake, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.868; 19. Santino Ferrucci, 16, Abacus-11.875; 20. Landon Brooks, 57w, Wood-11.878; 21. Caden Sarale, 32, Sarale-11.894; 22. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-11.918; 23. Michael Pickens, 31, Beilman-11.925; 24. Justin Grant, 87, CBI-11.934; 25. Michael Faccinto, 68, Six8-11.938; 26. Gunnar Setser, 43, Arnold-11.953; 27. Connor Speir, 14JR, Streeter/Graunstadt-11.993; 28. Jake Swanson, 31B, Beilman-12.121; 29. Jake Morgan, 45, Morgan-12.551; 30. Anthony Bruno, 9, Boscacci-12.745; 31. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-NT.
CAR IQ FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Shane Golobic, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Caden Sarale, 4. Hayden Reinbold, 5. Daison Pursley, 6. Michael Faccinto, 7. Jake Morgan, 8. Kyle Larson. NT
K1 RACEGEAR SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Cale Coons, 2. Kale Drake, 3. Tanner Carrick, 4. Cannon McIntosh, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Gunnar Setser, 7. Anthony Bruno, 8. Drake Edwards. NT
USAC GEAR THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Steven Snyder Jr., 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Buddy Kofoid, 4. Santino Ferrucci, 5. Jake Andreotti, 6. Dane Culver, 7. Connor Speir, 8. Michael Pickens. 2:00.741
COOK OUT FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Corey Day, 3. Jacob Denney, 4. Landon Brooks, 5. Gavin Miller, 6. Colby Copeland, 7. Jake Swanson. 2:02.039
ELLIOTTโS CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Colby Copeland, 2. Gunnar Setser, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Michael Faccinto, 5. Drake Edwards, 6. Connor Speir, 7. Jake Morgan, 8. Anthony Bruno, 9. Dane Culver. NT
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Daison Pursley (4), 2. Steven Snyder Jr. (7), 3. Shane Golobic (8), 4. Landon Brooks (21), 5. Justin Grant (10), 6. Colby Copeland (18), 7. Cannon McIntosh (16), 8. Gunnar Setser (23), 9. Kevin Thomas Jr. (6), 10. Kale Drake (19), 11. Logan Seavey (3), 12. Jake Andreotti (17), 13. Cale Coons (9), 14. Tanner Carrick (13), 15. Kyle Larson (11), 16. Buddy Kofoid (2), 17. Gavin Miller (14), 18. Carson Macedo (15), 19. Michael Faccinto (22), 20. Santino Ferrucci (20), 21. Hayden Reinbold (12), 22. Corey Day (1), 23. Caden Sarale (25), 24. Drake Edwards (24-P), 25. Jacob Denney (5). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 15-43 Corey Day, Laps 44-95 Kyle Larson, Laps 96-100 Daison Pursley.
**Drake Edwards flipped during the semi. Dane Culver flipped during the semi. Hayden Reinbold flipped on lap 1 of the feature. Caden Sarale flipped on lap 29 of the feature. Kale Drake flipped on lap 38 of the feature. Corey Day flipped on lap 59 of the feature. Santino Ferrucci flipped on lap 70 of the feature. Kyle Larson flipped on lap 96 of the feature.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Cannon McIntosh-1215, 2-Justin Grant-1212, 3-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1145, 4-Jacob Denney-1118, 5-Gavin Miller-1071, 6-Kale Drake-1040, 7-Steven Snyder Jr.-1015, 8-Drake Edwards-968, 9-Logan Seavey-954, 10-Hayden Reinbold-876.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kale Drake-222, 2-Gunnar Setser-172, 3-Briggs Danner-151, 4-C.J. Leary-141, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-135, 6-Justin Grant-130, 7-Logan Seavey-126, 8-Hayden Reinbold-123, 9-Kyle Cummins-120, 10-Chase Stockon-119.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: November 19, 2025 โ Plaza Park Raceway โ Visalia, California โ 1/5-Mile Dirt Oval โ Golden State Invasion
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Kevin Thomas Jr. (11.617)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson (11.487)
Car IQ First Heat Winner: Shane Golobic
K1 RaceGear Second Heat Winner: Cale Coons
USAC Gear Third Heat Winner: Steven Snyder Jr.
Cook Out Fourth Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Elliottโs Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Colby Copeland
Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Landon Brooks (21st to 4th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Colby Copeland