Larson Sixth in Wild Wing Wednesday Civil War Special at Placerville
Placerville, CA. June 3, 2009. Kyle Larson teamed up with veteran car owner and driver
Mark Moore and made his first appearance with the California 360 Sprint Car Civil War  Series this season as the group finally got their twice rain delayed opener
in at Placerville Speedway. Although the event was officially completed rain again reared
its ugly head as a downpour ended the feature at lap 18, with Larson sitting sixth.
Piloting Moore’s 1m machine for the first time Larson qualified 11th quick of the 37
cars pitted. A third place finish in the third heat race placed the sixteen year old
Larson eighth on the A-main event grid. On the opening lap sixth starting Camron Mendes
allowed his car to spin in turn four  and
Larson was the first car of several to make contact. Expecting a bent Jacob’s Ladder
to be a result of the hard contact, Larson ducked into the pits during the yellow flag
period to have his crew view the extent of the damages.
Although the rear bumper and tail tank suffered extensive damage the rear suspension was
found to be intact and Larson rejoined the field in 17th place. As the race restarted
Larson steadily picked off cars and was 12th by lap nine. With light sprinkles falling
Larson was picking up the pace and advanced to eighth by the scheduled half way point of
lap 15.
Down the backstretch of lap 16 Larson was forced up the dirt embankment wall  and nearly flipped. After an amazing recovery Larson found himself back to
11th before a yellow flag appeared for a tangle between Roger Crockett and Stephen Allard
on lap 17. With Crockett and Allard eliminated Larson restarted ninth for what turned out
to be the final two laps of racing. As Andy Forsberg held off Tyler Walker over the last
laps Larson continued to push forward as he gained three more positions to take sixth in
the final rundown.
“I really want to thank Mark for bringing his car out tonight,” stated Larson at
the end of the night. “We’ve talked about getting together for a race here or
there in the past but it finally worked out for tonight. The car felt great in the main
and I really feel we could have contended for the win if not for the first lap
incident.”
Larson will return to his regular duties of guiding the Dave and Debbie Vertullo 410
sprint car on the Golden State Challenge Series trail this coming Saturday as the
competitors will be making their only stop of the season at the picturesque American
Valley Speedway in Quincy, California.
Race: June 3, 2009
Photos Courtesy of Steve’s Racing Photos
www.stevesracingphotos.com
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