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Buy, Sell, Trade Everything Motorsports
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Race: July 1-3, 2005
LARSON WINS WEST COAST NATIONALS
Picks up 100th feature win in Invitational race
Red Bluff, CA - ParkerStore driver Kyle Larson accomplished two major goals in one weekend
as he won his 100th main event Saturday July 2nd in an Invitational feature race prior to
capturing the West Coast Nationals main event on Sunday inside the Pauline Davis Pavilion
at the Tehama County Fairgrounds. Larson earned both wins in the 125/250cc division but
also competed in the 500cc open division and made both main events there as well, where he
struggled with a continuously loose race kart.
The West Coast Nationals was a first time event inside the facility that hosts the largest
winter indoor events in outlaw sprint kart racing. Despite temperatures over the century
mark the track held up very well over the three day event as the blazing sun never reached
the track surface. Points were awarded for qualifying and heat finishes and set the
lineups for the feature races on Sunday.
One round of qualifying was held Friday night and Larson qualified his
ParkerStore/Predator Motors/QRC factory kart third in the 125/250 division while
qualifying 13th in the 500cc Open division. The top eight qualifiers ran trophy dashes and
Larson started sixth in the 125/250 ten lapper. He fought his way to the front on the
little bullring and caught leader Jonny Lentz with one lap to go. The duo raced side by
side out of turn four but Lentz won the battle in a near dead heat.
On Saturday the second round of qualifying was held and each competitor’s best lap
from the two qualifying sessions was counted in the point tally. Once again Larson was
third in a 33 kart field at the end of the 125/250 qualifying and he improved considerably
in the Open division, where he also qualified third of the 61 karts assembled.
The heats were totally inverted and Larson started 8th in the 125/250’s and charged
forward to win the third heat. In the 500’s he started ninth in the third heat and
came away with a fourth place finish. At the end of all the heat action Larson had put his
yellow ParkerStore mounts on the pole of the 125/250 feature and outside pole of the
500’s in Sunday’s finales.
Larson started fifth in Saturday night’s Invitational main and by lap 11 had taken
over the lead from Brad Patchen and brought third starter Brian Southers, piloting
Larson’s 125cc ParkerStore/Banke Powered/QRC Factory kart with him into second. The
pair pulled away from the pack for a one-two finish for the MAJ1K Motorsports team. Larson
also started fifth in the Open Invitational main but struggled with an ill handling kart
and finished seventh.
Sunday’s final started with the Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services dashes
and Larson finished behind his own kart, piloted by Southers, in the 125/250 race and
finished seventh in the open dash. Larson’s pole starting spot led to him getting the
advantage on the start over outside front row starter Kenny Allen. The lead was never
relinquished, however third starter Southers eventually got into second and began to apply
pressure to Larson. Although Larson was never seriously challenged the duo pulled away to
another satisfying finish for the pair of ParkerStore karts.
The Open race found Larson starting outside of top point earner Justin Grant. Grant go the
jump on the start and Larson held second as they gradually pulled away from the other
contenders. On lap 9 Larson half spun in turn four and fell to the back. Larson did move
back to 11th but was still struggling with a loose kart before finally ending the
adventure as the thirteenth place finisher. Grant did go on to lead every lap and became,
with Kyle and Box Stock winner Tyler Reddick, the champions of the inaugural West Coast
Nationals.
After the races Larson commented “It feels really good to win the first West Coast
Nationals with the 250 and to have my good buddy Brian Southers bring our ParkerStore/QRC
125cc kart home second in both main events. Both cars just ran great all weekend. I just
wish the open kart felt as good. After doing a complete check of the front end we found a
rod end that was frozen. That explains why no matter what setup we put on the kart it
would just jump out from under me. But, overall, it was a good weekend and the trophy is
really neat. I really thank Bob Carrel for putting this race on and I’ll come back
and try to get the open win next year.”
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