Dirt And Pavement, With Wing And Without, Three Solid Runs For Larson In Indiana
And California
Indianapolis, Indiana and Calistoga, California. May 27, 28 & 29, 2011. Showing his
quickly emerging versatility in different forms of open wheel racing, Elk Grove native
Kyle Larson had a varied Memorial Holiday
weekend of racing on both sides of the country. Starting in Indiana on Friday with his
first ever drive in a USAC Silver Crown car, then Saturday, moving on to his first attempt
at USAC Midgets on pavement, and finally heading home to California for a Sunday return to
his roots of winged sprint car racing, Larson opened many eyes as he raced to 12th, fifth
and second place finishes.
In his first attempt in the Keith Kunz Motorsports IWX Motor Freight Silver Crown machine,
Larson qualified 12th in a field of 31 entrants on the dirt mile at the Indiana State
Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. In the “Hoosier 100” the 18 year old Larson drove a
heady race in the early to middle
stages as he impressively moved his way to sixth and ran in the pack with the leaders.
Fighting a tight condition with his mount over the last quarter of the race, Larson twice
slid out of the difficult groove in turn two and gave back the positions he had earned,
crossing the finish line in 12th. Jerry Coons Jr. raced from ninth to take the crowd
pleasing win in a close battle with defending champion Levi Jones.
Moving on to the paved half mile in the Indianapolis suburb of Clermont on Saturday night
for the “Night Before The 500” midget race, Larson repeated what he did two
weeks ago at the lightning fast Lucas Oil Raceway Park when he set fast time in an asphalt
sprint car the first time he saw the track. In his first start in a midget on the macadam
Larson stopped the clocks as the fastest once again, topping the 33 car field.
Larson wowed the crowd in heat one as he blasted the
Kunz Motorsports/Toyota Racing Development # 67 to the lead from sixth starting before two
laps were complete. Gaining the lead with a “thread the needle” pass between the
two leaders in turn three, Larson assured himself a place in the 50 lap feature that would
pay $20,000 to the victor.
With the inversion Larson started sixth in the talent laden field. Over the first half of
the race Larson gained two hard fought positions as first Bryan Clauson, then Darren Hagen
led. Over the last third of the race Larson’s tire grip started to go away and he
began to lose ground to the top three of Hagen, Alex Bowman and Levi Roberts. After Tracy
Hines got by for fourth with a handful of laps to go, Larson settled for fifth as Hagen
went on to claim the big money.
Returning to a winged 410 sprint car for the first time in over three weeks, Larson flew
home to take on the King of the West Sprints regulars at scenic Calistoga Speedway on
Sunday. The defending King of California qualified ninth quick in the field of 28 cars and
won the first heat to earn a place in the eight car dash that would determine the first
four rows of the scheduled 25 lap main.
Drawing fourth on the dash’s grid Larson raced to third to secure the inside second
row starting position. Wheeling the Stadelhofer Construction #99 Larson showed early that
he would be a contender for the win. As front row
starters Tim Kaeding and Ian Madsen swapped the lead at the head of the pack, Larson
fought off first Evan Suggs and then Jonathan Allard. Despite a spate of yellow and red
flags, Larson’s lap times were consistently the fastest in the race. With ten laps
down Larson drove past Madsen for second and set his sights on Kaeding, who was slowing
with a deflating right rear tire. Unfortunately for Larson, Brad Furr spun to bring out
the race’s final stoppage, as the checkered flag was given to Kaeding due to the
state mandated 11 p.m. curfew.
Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by Stadelhofer Construction, Bullet Chassis,
Toyota Racing Development, IWX Motor Freight, Peppermill ~ Resort ~ Spa Casino ~ Reno,
ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Simpson Race Products, RJ’s Race Graphics,
Abreu Vineyards, JW Web Design, Kaeding Performance, Safety Solutions and All Star
Performance.
