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Buy, Sell, Trade Everything Motorsports
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Race: September 24, 2005
LARSON INCREASES POINT LEADS AT CYCLELAND SPEEDWAY WITH ONE TO GO
Chico, CA – ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart Driver Kyle Larson sped to victory number
30 in 2005 as he turned qualifying misfortune into an A-Main win in the 500cc Open
Intermediate division Saturday September 24 at Cycleland Speedway. Larson also finished
third in the Intermediate 125/250 division in what is being regarded as one of the most
exciting races ever seen at Cycleland Speedway. The finishes saw him increase his point
lead in each division with one point race left at the high speed racetrack.
Larson qualified third of 27 entries in the 125/250 division and lined up fourth in the
dash. He drove his ParkerStore/Predator Motors/QRC Factory Kart around front row starter
Dillon Silverman and Mason Moore on the first lap and won the eight lapper by a
straightaway. Larson lined up fifth in the feature race and jumped into third on the first
lap. Polesitter Tyler Reddick led the first four laps until Colby Copeland took over.
Larson shadowed the lead duo until Reddick got sideways exiting turn four of lap 10, when
Larson slid into second with Moore following into third. As Copeland began to deal with
heavy lapped traffic Larson and Moore started to close in. By lap 14 the trio was dicing
together through the maze of traffic. On lap 15 Moore raced past Larson into second only
to have the favor returned the next lap. On lap 18 Larson finally caught Copeland in the
ever changing dense traffic. As the white flag was displayed Larson led into turn one but
a lapper moved into his lane and stymied his momentum down the back straight. Copeland
assumed the lead again and Moore got into turn three under Larson and beat the ParkerStore
driver to the line in a near dead heat. Although Larson finished behind Moore he was able
to garner one more point than Moore on the night and now leads by 62 points.
In the 500cc Open Intermediate division Larson was only able to qualify 10th of the 30
karts as his motor mount broke during the run. This relegated him to the outside of row
one in the second heat. He took the lead from polesitter Jake Park in turn two of the
first lap and won by a wide margin to earn the outside front row starting position of the
A-Main. Going into the race Keith Bloom had turned a one point deficit to Larson into a 12
point lead mostly due to Larson’s poor qualifying effort that saw him miss the dash
where 15 points are available. Larson’s ParkerStore/Grandpa George Motors/QRC Factory
Kart assumed the lead at the start of the feature and went unchallenged to the 20 lap win.
Bloom had his exhaust pipe disconnect after contact with another competitor on lap 10 and
had to exit the race, where he was scored 18th. Moore did finish second to Larson and cut
a 30 point gap to 13 as Bloom fell 26 points off the pace.
At night’s end Larson said, “That 125/250 race sure was fun. I don’t think
I’ve ever been in a race like that where three guys were going at it with each other
like that with so much traffic to deal with. The lapped traffic was opening and closing
holes so fast. I thought I had the race won about five different times but the traffic
would change everything. I was disappointed I didn’t win but I added to my point lead
over Mason and if I can just qualify for the main next week I will lock the championship
up. I wish it was going to be that easy in the 500 kart but I am really lucky to still be
leading the points after the motor mount broke in qualifying. If you miss the dash here it
really hurts because you get no points in the heats. If Bloom would have finished the main
where he was running (fifth) we would be tied in points right now. Mason had a really good
night and now he’s in second behind me. All three of us have a chance to win the
championship and next week should be really exciting.”
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