Kyle Larson perseveres at Pacific Coast Nationals to run
13th in USAC National Sprint Car Series debut
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – November 18, 2009…Despite the odds stacked against him during
the 30th running of the Pacific Coast Nationals on Sunday night Elk Grove,
CA sprint car driver Kyle Larson was able to fight through adversity and tally a
 13th place
finish at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
The revival of the prestigious Pacific Coast Nationals this past Saturday and Sunday
brought back an event that was originally held in 1962 at the famed Ascot Park in Gardena
and this year's reincarnation also marked Larson's very first weekend of racing with the
USAC National Sprint Car Series.
The weekend as a whole was also just the second ever outing in a wingless 410 sprint car
for the 17-year-old and he kicked-off the opener on Saturday by qualifying
27th fastest overall in the star-studded 54-car field aboard the Stadelhofer
Construction/ Phoenix ParkerStore/ BK Motorsports, No. 99 machine. With the USAC National
and CRA Sprint Car Series inverting eight cars in the heats Larson then found himself on
the front row in the third of four 10-lap heat races and he immediately jumped into the
lead at the waving of the green flag.
 Despite
having limited laps in a wingless sprinter Larson impressively pulled away from the
stacked field and crossed under the checkered flag with a huge lead to
capture his second career wingless 410 heat race victory, after also winning a heat during
the second night of the Vermeil Classic in Calistoga. Making the dominating win even more
impressive and, although not counting as an official record, the 2009 Golden State
Challenge Series Rookie of the Year also turned a 14.565 lap during the heat race
under the Thunderbowl Raceway wingless track record of 14.646, which was set earlier in
qualifying by Bryan Clauson.
Larson was then forced to start from the 20th position in the main event and when
racing got underway in the 30-lapper he picked up right where he left off in the heat race
as he began to make his way through the field. Despite very fast conditions the youngster
was able to charge forward passing a number of drivers, which included executing a strong
move to blast around Hall of Fame member Rip Williams to get within an arms
reach of the top-10. Just after that though on lap eight Larson felt something possibly
wrong with the engine and pulled into the infield to err on the side of caution and not
risk further damage to the power-plant.
Despite the disappointing end to the night Larson  remained
positive going into Sunday and began the finale of the Pacific Coast Nationals by
timing-in a solid 14th fastest out of the 51-cars that returned. He then lined-up in
the third row of his heat race. However, disaster struck on the opening lap when Henry
Clarke slid up into him and resulted in the Kaeding Performance/Maxim/Shaver getting
upside down wildly in the first set of corners. Larson's mount was towed to the pit area
and the BK Motorsports crew went to work fixing the damage which included the need for
welding on the right front corner of the frame. Thankfully, the massive crew was able to
piece the car back together just in time for the B-main, where he started from the outside
of the fourth row.
When the green lights came on for the 12-lap contest Larson would drop a  couple of
spots, but soon after found the high-side to his liking and started to reel back in the
eighth place car, which was the final transfer spot into the feature. The Elk Grove racer
would soon fight it out with Brad Sweet and Rip Williams as the trio attempted to push
their way into the main event. Remaining upstairs on the 1/3 mile clay oval Larson carved
his way around Williams with just a couple of laps left to slice into seventh, where he
would eventually finish to transfer into the $12,500-to-win A-main.
Lining-up in the seventh row for the 40-lap contest Larson attempted to find his groove in
the early stages, but for the second time during the night an incident would happen to him
in the first and second corners. Matt Mitchell spun in front of Larson, leaving him with
nowhere to go and resulted in the Stadelhofer Construction No. 99 sprinter getting upside
down to bring out a red flag. He restarted at the rear of the field and would do a nice
job to pick off several cars as the race went on and crossed under the checkered flag in
the 13th position. "We had a great weekend even though again our finishes don't
exactly show for it," Larson said. "I felt really comfortable in the car, but
luck didn't seem to be on our side either night."
Although the weekend didn't go totally as planned for Larson he still left Tulare feeling
confident after getting up to speed quickly yet again without the wing. "It was a lot
of fun to get some non-wing experience this year and I really enjoyed it the two times I
got to do it," said the 17-year-old. "We were really good on opening night in
Tulare so it was tough to have to pull in because we were coming forward. You seem to have
to drive the cars a little more  sideways in Tulare since the corners are smaller
and I love this track so hopefully I can run with these guys again next season when they
come back here."
The Pacific Coast Nationals puts a wrap on what was a solid third season of running sprint
cars for Larson that saw him claim three victories and put together a number of other
strong performances throughout the year. "We had a good year and I got to run for a
lot different car owners so that was pretty cool," he said. "I also got a lot of
good experience running with GSC and I think I learned some things as the year went on so
I just can't wait for next season. I want to thank all of my sponsors for helping out this
year and have to thank my family for all their support as well because it means a
lot."
Kyle Larson Racing is also seeking associate sponsors for the 2010 racing season and
for anyone who would like to get on board please contact us at kylelarsonracing@yahoo.com.
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: November 14 & 15, 2009
Photos Courtesy of John Racing Photos
www.johnsracingphotos.com
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