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Buy, Sell, Trade Everything Motorsports
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Races: September 3, 2005 Carson City, NV
HIGHS AND LOWS FOR PARKERSTORE OUTLAW KART DRIVER KYLE LARSON
ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart driver Kyle Larson competed in two big events over a four
day period that saw the driver meet with mixed results. Saturday September 3rd found
Larson racing at Carson City, Nevada at the All Star Tour event there and his seventh in
the Intermediate 125/250 division and fifth in the 500cc Open division helped solidify his
standing in each point chase. On the following Tuesday night Cycleland Speedway, near
Chico, California held a non-point event called the Showcase Race that takes advantage of
the large contingent of race fans in town for the World of Outlaws Gold Cup Race of
Champions for sprint cars. Larson again raced in both the 125/250 and Open divisions and
although he looked to be heading to wins in both features he found disappointment in each.
At Carson City Larson qualified second in the 30 kart field before winning the second heat
from the pole. The four heat winners ran the Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services
Dash for Cash to determine the lineup of the first two rows of the A-main. Larson started
second and finished behind third starter Colby Copeland to earn the outside front row slot
in the main. At the start of the main Larson’s ParkerStore/PredatorMotors/QRC Factory
Kart fell in behind Copeland. For the first 11 laps Larson shadowed Copeland until
attempting an outside pass on the narrow track in turn one. The move wouldn’t stick
and Larson slid into the hay bales to bring out the yellow flag. He restarted at the back
and was able to come back to a seventh place finish as Copeland went on to the win.
Larson qualified fourth quick of the 50 entries in the Open division and won the fourth
heat to advance to the dash, where he finished fourth. He lined up outside the second row
of the feature and held the spot until lap 15 when tenth starter and defending race winner
Austin Kerns got by. Justin Reinolds led every lap and Larson stayed in fifth to the lap
25 checkered while helping himself greatly in the point standings as the three ahead of
him, Pistol Pete Johnston, Keith Bloom and Justin Grant all missed the A-main.
At Cycleland Speedway Larson posted fast time in the Intermediate 125/250 division over
the 25 karts assembled. The format called for the ten fastest to be inverted in the dash
and the finishing order would determine the first five rows of the A-main. Larson came
from last starting to take the lead in less than five laps and went on to the lap ten
checkered. He earned the pole for the main event and proceeded to dominate the race until
confusion reigned at the conclusion of the event. As Larson raced down the back
straightaway on lap 19 the yellow light came on for a kart stalled in turn three. Larson
raced by and thought the flagman was waving the expected yellow. But as Larson slowed in
turn one and two, while at least one infield official motioned for the pack to slow down,
it was realized that the flagman had displayed the white flag. As the first three cars
slowed fourth running Jake Cartwright raced by before the others resumed racing and got
his first win of the year at Cycleland while Larson ended a very disappointing fifth.
In the Open division Larson qualified tenth of the 39 karts present and started the dash
on the pole. He beat out front row starter, sprint car star and outlaw kart legend, Sean
Becker, to earn the pole for the rich $1,000 to win feature. At the start Larson’s
ParkerStore/Grandpa George Motors/QRC Factory Kart got a bit sideways in turn four and he
fell to fourth. On lap three he got by third place Tyler Wolf and both Larson and Wolf got
by second place Michael Tarter on the next lap. Larson and Wolf then tussled for second
over the next six laps before Larson pulled away and began to close on Becker. After a lap
nine yellow 13 year old Larson got inside of Becker in turn one and battled the 23 year
old kart veteran until pulling ahead in turn two on the lap 12. As the pair entered turn
three Larson slowed as his chain came off while Becker had nowhere to go and got collected
with the ParkerStore kart. Larson was forced to retire from the event and Becker restarted
at the rear and came back to a seventh place finish, while Brett Miller went on to collect
the $1,000 prize.
After the two nights of racing Larson commented “Carson City’s track wasn’t
near as good as last year. It was pretty windy and it made for a really narrow track. I
probably shouldn’t have tried to pass Colby in the 125/250 main but I just
didn’t want to settle for second. Mason Moore only finished fourth and with me
getting back to seventh I was able to keep a pretty good point lead with one race to go.
In the Open race the track was taking so much rubber that I was just trying to hold on
after the kart got really tight. I’ll take fifth though because now I have a chance
to get this championship too when we race the last Tour race at Red Bluff in December. As
for the races at Cycleland that 125/250 race is probably my biggest disappointment in
racing. The yellow light was on before I got to the stalled kart in turn three. When I got
to the flag stand I figured the yellow was waving. I use an amber colored visor on my
helmet and the flag looked yellow to me. There were people in the infield motioning for us
to slow down and I don’t think they knew the flagman threw the white flag either.
Either way the flagman should have thrown the yellow because even though we race to the
yellows, we shouldn’t be going by a stalled kart twice. It’s just a weird way to
lose a race that should be yours. When I got into the open I was still upset but I figured
if I could win that race and the $1000 everything would be ok. I fell back at the start
but I knew my kart felt real good. After I got into second and started battling Sean
Becker everything else before didn’t matter. When I got ahead of Sean it felt so good
because I’ve only gotten to race against Sean a couple of times. But then my chain
came off and that ended a really bummer night. But there was one good thing about tonight
and that is at least there were no points on the line.”
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