Larson Third In Trophy Cup Feature, Fifth In Total Points Tulare, CA. October 23 and 24, 2009. Signaling the possibility of a major turning point in his brief sprint car race career, 17 year old Kyle Larson made the best of a great opportunity - driving for sprint car Hall of Famer Brent Kaeding - by racing to a third place finish in the 16th Annual Trophy Cup finale that benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway Saturday night.  In this unique event where points are scored each time on the track, the effort also moved him from 18th at the beginning of the 50 lapper to fifth in total points, where the lion’s share of the purse money is distributed. Elk Grove, California resident Larson, who placed fourth in the A-main and sixth in the total points at the 2008 Trophy Cup, saw his weekend get off to an inauspicious start by only qualifying 29th fast of the 68 cars entered, who were led by San Jose, California driver Tim Kaeding’s 13.502 lap. However, with an outside front row assignment in his heat race, Larson posted the win on a fast and narrow track that saw many of the top qualifiers missing out on the top three positions needed in the six heats to transfer to Friday’s feature race. After the loaded B-main event was complete Larson sat 18th in total points. The top 12 in points, which included B-main transfers, were inverted at the front of the field, while Larson started outside the ninth row of the 24 car field. At the conclusion of the 30 lap feature, won by pole starter Andy Forsberg of Auburn, California, Larson had advanced to 13th at the finish, which also placed him 13th in total points at the end of the first night of activities. Qualifying was not a component of the second night’s format, as points were used to line up the top 48 in six heats that would fully invert eight cars in each. With points only, not transfer positions, on the line drivers were looking to improve their standing going into the feature events to be contested later. Larson, in the Stadelhofer Construction/Kaeding Performance/Shaver/Maxim wrenched by Clark Riolo, began the first heat from sixth starting. Unfortunately, Larson became the first race casualty of the night when Kyle Hirst, of Loomis, California, began a slow spin in turn four of lap two. Larson and point leader Shane Stewart, of Bixby, Oklahoma, could not avoid contact with Hirst, who scampered away from the incident. Larson sustained major damage to his car and was towed off as the rear end, driveline, torque tube, rear shocks, and right side header had to be replaced, while Stewart was slowed by a damaged nose wing and finished seventh. As Brent Kaeding’s massive crew quickly readied the #99 car, Larson held his breath while waiting to see if he had enough points to stay in the top 20 drivers automatically seeded into the feature race. Fortunately, when the heats were complete Larson had only fallen to 18th, thus guaranteeing the seventh starting position in the A-main event lineup. With the B-main transfers at the front of the field and the rest of the top 20 in points fully inverted, the race got underway with T.Kaeding starting 24th as the high point driver. As Eugene, Oregon’s Roger Crockett led over Pittsboro, Indiana’s Randy Hannagan, and Grand Forks, South Dakota’s Mark Dobmeier in the early going, Larson showed he would be a contender for the win as he advanced to fourth by lap six. The top four continued to run nose to tail with no change in the order until Larson passed Dobmeier on lap 21, just before leader Crockett spun to a stop in turn four nearly a lap later. With Hannagan as the new leader, Larson began to hound the veteran Outlaw driver with intentions of taking the top spot. Finally, on lap 26 Larson got a run on the bottom of turn four to take the lead. A Larson slider into turn one saw a crossover move by Hannagan retake the lead and drop Larson back to second. As the race moved into the latter stages Hannagan still led Larson, with Nashville, Tennessee’s Paul McMahan in third, and T. Kaeding and Stewart coming from the rear to fight it out for fourth and fifth. With ten laps to go Kaeding split Larson and McMahan in turn three and four to take over the runnerup position. As T. Kaeding closed on Hannagan in an attempt to become the first Trophy Cup champion to ever set fast time or start from 24th, the crowd sensed history was about to happen. For Larson, the race livened up as well as the steady run at the front was jeopardized by intense pressure from McMahan and Stewart. T. Kaeding finally made the inevitable pass on Hannagan on lap 46, much to the crowd’s delight. As T. Kaeding raced his way into the Trophy Cup record books, over the last laps Larson distanced himself from his seasoned pursuers, even closing on Hannagan as they raced to the checkered flag. Ironically, both Kaeding and Larson tied for the race’s fastest lap at 14.762. Larson summed up the two nights of racing by commenting, “I really have to thank Rich Stadelhofer for making this opportunity possible as I was without a ride as of a couple of weeks ago. Rich, Brent, and I just all happened to be watching an outlaw kart race in Lakeport and Rich asked Brent if there was any way to get me in one of his cars. A couple of days later car number 99 was being readied for me.” “The car was perfect every time it hit the track,” continued Larson. “Honestly, even when I qualified I thought there was no way I wasn’t fast time. Clark Riolo, Brent, Billy Albini and others had the car dialed in for the feature. I really wish we could have dealt with some lapped traffic because I think this car would have been great maneuvering anywhere on the track.” Finally, Larson said, “I really appreciate Brent giving me a chance in one of his cars. His equipment is second to none, and so is his crew. The effort they put in to repair the car after the heat race incident was amazing to watch. Brent, Clark, Cajun, Billy, Bruce Homer, Joey Batts, Adam Kaeding, Jeff Delte, Skippy, Chad Cypert, Nick Wilke, and even Cody Darrah all jumped in to help get it repaired.  I’m sure there may have been more people helping, but it was all happening pretty fast. Hopefully, I can be a part of Brent’s operation again sometime because this was an awesome experience for me to be a part of.” Larson's racing efforts are sponsored by Stadelhofer Construction, Phoenix ParkerStore and Lubrication Equipment and Supply Co., Safety Solutions-LFT Technologies, Simpson Performance Products, G & N Construction, JW Web Design, and Mancamp Motorsports.     Race:  October 23 & 24, 2009 Photos Courtesy of Shane Muir Click on photos for larger version