Tucson, Arizona. February 18 and 19, 2011.Making
his first appearances in the potent Keith Kunz
Motorsports midget, 2010 King of California Kyle Larson continued his winning ways in the
early portion of the 2011 season as he dominated both feature events of the Copper on Dirt
Classic at USA Raceway Park in Tucson, Arizona this past weekend. Coming off the biggest
win of his career in the Lucas Oil ASCS national winged sprint car race at Hanford,
California the week previous week, the 18 year old made it three wins in a row while
winning in a midget for the first time.
Larson, who will contend for the USAC national midget title with Kunz, said of the wins,
“This is a great way to start off in my new ride with Keith Kunz. The car was on a
rail all weekend and the Toyota
engine ran great. My hat’s off to Keith and the crew as the car was flawless every
time it hit the track. I don’t have a lot of midget experience but I hope to get some
more wins this year when we get to the USAC midget schedule. I’m really looking
forward to it”
Larson, who led flag to flag in his Hanford ASCS win, did the same in the Friday night
victory after starting outside the front row. Driving the Toyota Racing Development
sponsored Bullet Chassis built by Kunz, the Elk Grove, California resident pulled away
to a three quarter lap advantage when the yellow flag appeared late in Friday’s 20
lapper. A torrid battle over the last laps saw Arizona midget champion RJ Johnson use
lapped traffic to his advantage to steal second from Pennsylvania’s Steve Buckwalter
as Larson pulled away and copped his first win.
Saturday’s closer saw Larson nearly take the lead on the first lap from fourth
starting, but was just short at the line as California Racing Association sprint car
champion Mike Spencer held on. By turn one though Larson again showed the way as the
Toyota powered machine pulled in front. Larson’s teammate from Indiana, 16 year old
Dalton Armstrong, slid into second as the duo darted away from Spencer.
The caution lights came on for a stopped Johnson on lap three as his night was over.
With the green flag displayed, the race went non stop as Larson showed the way to a half
lap advantage at the lap 25 checkered flag. Action behind was very competitive once again
as Danny Sheridan prevailed in a fierce fight with Armstrong over the last several laps.
Buckwalter brought Cactus Jack Yeley’s mount home fourth, while Sheridan’s
teammate, Josh Pelkey, finished fifth.
The Kunz/Larson
combo will start the Mopar USAC national midget campaign at Dodge City Raceway Park in
Kansas with another double header scheduled to open the point season on April 22nd and
23rd. Between now and then Larson will be competing in California in various winged sprint
car events, including several World of Outlaws and King of the West Series 410 races, and
also a handful of 360 shows.
