Larson Recovers From Crash To Finish 7th in Tulare GSC Tulare, California. May 16, 2009. On a night that began with an unusual feel to it with the absence of his car owner, Kyle Larson himself provided a dose of the unusual to the crowd on hand at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare Saturday night. Despite the event stopping incident in the dash, when the night was complete Larson put on another steady driving display that ended with a run from last to seventh in the feature race. As the Golden State Challenge Series dropped in for race number seven on the tour, Larson’s car owner and crew chief Dave Vertullo convalesced at home with a severe case of pneumonia. In his void, long time sprint car mechanic Richard Brown stepped forward for Vertullo and lent his services to the 16 year old driver. When qualifying was complete, the pairing continued the recent success of the team as Larson tallied second quick time of the 19 cars on hand. The heat race saw more of the same as fourth starting Larson opened the race with a hair-raising pass off of turn two to split Tyler Walker and Jerry Wise, Jr. He then chased down and passed leader Peter Murphy on lap eight and won by a straightaway over Walker as the checkered flag waved at the end of lap ten. Larson, who won his first 410 feature at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway one week ago, drew the third starting spot for the dash and lined up behind Tim Kaeding and Walker, with Tommy Tarlton outside of the Starr Property Management/Eagle/Kistler 83v. As Kaeding led Walker into turn three Tarlton slid under Larson to take over third. Larson closed on Tarlton  going into turn one with the intention of going around the outside of the previous night’s winner at Ocean Speedway. However, the leading contender for GSC Rookie of the Year jumped the cushion and began to elevate up the catch fence. The car then dug the left front corner into the loose clay and began what looked to be the beginning of a series of hard tumbles. Miraculously, the left rear tire wedged itself between the top two cables and the car stopped suddenly, hanging 15 feet above the track surface. As Larson sat perched in the car for ten minutes while the track safety crew assessed the best way to get the car down, the untouched top wing was removed so that a tow truck could latch onto the cage and stablelize the car. With Larson safely out the crew needed another 15 minutes to complete the task of releasing the tightly wedged rear tire. With the long delay the dash was called complete and Larson was scored seventh. Due to the car count there was to be no B-main event, so time was lacking to complete all the necessary repairs. After replacing the front axle and radius rods, drag link, nose wing, Jacob’s Ladder, and reinstalling the top wing, a brake line was found to be severed as Larson hurriedly buckled in as the field formed on the race track. With no time left Larson pushed off to join in at the back of the pack just prior to the green flag, losing his original seventh starting place. Since repairs allowed no time for setup changes Larson made do with what he was handed. After getting used to the lack of brakes the resident of Elk Grove, California began to get comfortable and started to race his way forward on the now very slick track. By the mid point of the race the track started to lay rubber and Larson’s setup began to be more effective. Reaching eighth place after several mini battles Larson then had to fend off T. Kaeding, who pitted twice, for several laps. He was able to pull away and pass Charlie Louden for seventh with two laps to go. As Walker led every lap to win his fourth GSC race of the season, Larson salvaged his fifth top ten finish and moved back into fourth place in the series points. After the night was over, Larson said, “I want to wish Dave Vertullo a speedy recovery and I hope he’s well enough to make it to Calistoga. I also want to thank Richard Brown for stepping in. Like Dave, he is fun to be around and very easy to work with. Richard, his son Trevor, Mike Seros, Colby Copeland, Ben Gregg and my dad did everything they could to get me out for the main and I appreciate what they were able to get done in a short amount of time. I wish we could have started 7th. I’m pretty sure I could have contended up front but we were lucky to be out there.” Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by Starr Property Management, Inc., Phoenix ParkerStores and Lubrication Equipment and Supply Co., G & N Construction, Simpson Performance Products, Wion’s Body Shop and Powdercoating, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, JW Web Design, Safety Solutions-LFT Technologies, Wyman Construction, GME-Nields Steerings, LRB Manufacturing, SWEPCO Lubricants, Edward’s Lawn Service, Sierra Tire and Wheel, Mancamp Motorsports, and Mophead Graphix. Check out www.kylelarsonracing.com for main event video clips, current news and information. Race: May 16, 2009 Photos Courtesy of Steve’s Racing Photos www.stevesracingphotos.com