Larson Scores Sixth In Nor-Cal Season Opener At Marysville Raceway Park
Marysville, CA – March 7, 2009. Although there weren’t the dramatics of getting
a last second ride like he did at this
year’s Chili Bowl, Kyle Larson did find himself in an unfamiliar machine for the
opening of the 2009 Northern California sprint car season. While the newly reconfigured
Marysville Raceway Park held the Spring Sprint Car Open for 360 sprint cars, Larson teamed
with veteran car owner Harley Van Dyke. Even though the pairing was a first for the duo,
the results followed a pattern much like the 16 year old driver’s 2008 campaign, when
he made several spectacular runs from the back in A-main events.
After qualifying seventh fast of the 33 cars assembled in the pits, Larson’s sixth
place finish
would not make the heat race transfer into the feature race. Starting fifth in the B-main
Larson needed to finish fourth or better to make the 20 car lineup for the 30 lap
headliner. When the 12 lap semi main concluded Larson did just that as he finished fourth,
taking the last spot in the feature event.
As the main event got underway on a lightning fast track that was seeing lap times quicker
than those in qualifying, Larson began to get comfortable in the Van Dyke 5H. Using the
outside line, Larson began picking off cars in bunches. While Andy Forsberg led from the start,
by lap 3 Larson had moved into tenth, and a lap later advanced to eighth. Over the next
several laps Larson got into a spirited battle with fast time qualifier Tommy Tarlton and
Steven Tiner.
On lap 8 Tarlton got by Larson and a lap later both got by Tiner. On lap 10 Tiner returned
the favor on Larson but the battle was not over. At the halfway point Larson made
his final pass on Tiner to slide back to eighth.
Larson
held off Tiner and a closing Tyler Walker until the yellow flag appeared for sixth running
Ricky Wright Jr. on lap 27. Larson, seventh on the restart, moved into the top five when
third place Tarlton and fourth running Herman Klein tangled off turn two of lap 28.
Underway again, Walker, who passed Tiner on lap 27, began to put pressure on Larson. On
the penultimate lap, Walker, who had run the most extreme high line of anyone, found an
opening underneath Larson in turn three
and took possession of fifth. As Forsberg led all 30 laps mostly unopposed, Larson held on
for sixth on the well-prepared track that was pounded by rain for several days prior to
the event.
“It felt good to be back in the seat of a sprint car,” began Larson. “I
haven’t raced here since my rookie season in 2007 and the track is really racy now.
The promoter, Paul Hawes, did a great job redesigning the track over the winter.”
“I want to thank Harley for asking me to drive his car tonight,” continued
Larson. “He’s a fun guy to race with and I hope we can get together again when
my schedule allows. I also want to thank the rest of the crew, Don Van Dyke, Scotty and Duke
McMillen, Rob Borga, and Dave Vertullo. They hustled all night long getting the car right
for me.”
Larson, who will be driving the Dave and Debbie Vertullo 83v while contesting the Golden
State Challenge Series that opens at Placerville Speedway March 28th, is hoping to land a
ride for the World of Outlaws races at Chico and Tulare over the next couple of weekends.
Anyone interested please email Kyle at kylelarsonracing@yahoo.com.
Race: March 7, 2009
Photos Courtesy of Steve's Racing Photos
