Larson Claims GSC Championship With Fourth Place Finish At Placerville Speedway
Watsonville and Placerville, CA August 20 and 21, 2010. After returning from a two week
trip to the midwest while racing the non wing 410 sprint
car of colorful Cactus Jack Yeley, Kyle Larson became the youngest champion-at three weeks
past his 18th birthday- in the 25 year history of the Golden State Challenge Series when
he raced to a title clinching fourth place finish at Placerville Speedway Saturday night.
Entering the night nine points ahead of 13 time GSC champ Brent Kaeding, who is also the
owner of the Elk Grove, California driver’s car, Larson drove a smart, conservative
race at the foothill bullring to become the new King of California by a 15 point margin.
Larson’s five main event wins in the 24 races contested provided the margin needed to
take the Stadelhofer Construction/Peppermill Casino/Kaeding Performance number 99 machine
to the title.
“It’s a great feeling to win the championship over a guy like Brent Kaeding, who everybody knows is the real King of California,” Larson
said during celebrations after the race. “Without Brent providing me with such great
equipment and Rich Stadelhofer, of Stadelhofer Construction, and all the other sponsors,
this would not have been possible. Also, my crew of Clark Riolo, Matt “Skippy”
Britt, and Nick Wilke are real fun to work with and it is an honor to share this with all
of them.”
Larson started the night off with seventh quick time in the 25 car field. After placing second to Kenny Allen in the first heat Larson watched
Kaeding capture the win in heat three to close the point gap to eight. Unfortunately for
Kaeding, his 12th fast qualifying effort left him looking on from the outside when the
eight fastest cars to transfer to the main event lined up for the dash that sets the first
four rows of the headliner.
Larson drew the number six starting assignment in the six lapper and raced past Jonathan Allard, Andy Forsberg and Billy Strange, Jr., to finish
third, earning the inside second row slot in the feature. By virtue of his qualifying time
Kaeding lined up 12th while dash winner Evan Suggs and runnerup Sean Becker occupied the
front row for the 30 lap event.
Soon after the green flag appeared the race came to a halt with Kaeding a victim of the
close quarter racing that the speedway is famous for. When a couple of cars checked up in
turn three “BK” found himself on his side with minor wing damage. A complete
restart was in order with Kaeding at the tail of the 22 car field.
On the restart Suggs assumed control of the race over
Becker and Larson. However, with one lap in the books Zach Zimmerly brought out the first
yellow flag of the race. Underway again sixth starting Tim Kaeding began to assert himself
as the race ran several laps non stop and by lap 11 “TK” had gotten by Forsberg,
Larson, and Becker to take over second.
Several red flag periods, including an extended one for a jarring flip by Pat Harvey, Jr.,
slowed the pace of the race in the second half. Larson eventually had a late race pass of
Becker nullified when the last red flag appeared on lap 25 for James Sweeney.
While Suggs valiantly tried to hold onto
the lead over the last laps, it was all for naught when “TK” made a daring pass
off turn four on lap 27. Becker also accomplished the same feat on the last lap to steal
second, while Larson held steady to take the GSC championship with his fourth place
finish.
“My crew gave me a car good enough to win the race but I knew I had to be smart and
finish the race to get the championship and that is what I focused on
all race long. I just want to thank everyone who was here tonight to be a part of this-my
family, friends, the Stadelhofer Posse of Rich, Osman, Jim and Tim and all the fans who
pull for me. I’ll remember this for a long time.”
Larson also competed at Watsonville at Ocean Speedway on Friday night in round number ten
of the Taco Bravo 360 Series. Things didn’t go so well there for Larson as an early
draw as the third car out on a track that was still coming in led to 20th fast time of the
31 cars entered.
He did pull off a heat race win from the outside of the front row, earning the 16th
starting position on the main event grid. After racing as high as ninth by the midpoint of
the race Larson became the final caution period of the race at lap 24 when his left front
clipped the implement tire in turn one and he spun to a stop.
As Tim Kaeding raced to a flag to flag win over point leader Tommy Tarlton, second in
points Larson recovered after restarting at the tail end of the pack and fought back to an
11th place finish.
Larson, the only driver to win two of the four qualifying races for this coming
Saturday’s prestigious $5,000 to win Johnny Key Classic, will be joined by Tim and
Brent Kaeding, Tarlton, Ronnie Day, and Peter Murphy as the only drivers guaranteed
starting places in the 50 lap feature. All other competitors will attempt to make the
highest paying race at the speedway via qualifying races held prior to the feature event.
Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by Stadelhofer Construction, The Peppermill ~
Resort ~ Spa ~ Casino ~ Reno, Kaeding Performance, Abreu Vineyards, Safety Solutions,
Simpson Race Products, JW Web Design and All Star Performance.
