LARSON WINS OPEN DIVISION DASH IN CYCLELAND POINT OPENER

Open Intermediate Div. Video Clip

Chico, CA – ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart driver Kyle Larson returned to action at Cycleland Speedway as the track hosted the first point race of the 2006 season. Larson is competing in the two top divisions that Cycleland offers, the Open Intermediates and Open Outlaw Karts, which are both powered by a 500cc Honda engine. In the Open Intermediate division Larson came from sixth starting to finish second, while the Open Division saw another driver’s last lap brake failure and subsequent major contact turn a fifth place effort into a 13th place finish in the feature.

Larson qualified third of the 30 Open Intermediates and lined up fifth in the trophy dash. He drove his ParkerStore/Grandpa George Motors/QRC Factory Kart to a second place finish behind Mason Moore, earning the sixth starting slot in the A-Main. Josh Keheley led the first two laps until Tyler Reddick took over the top spot. On lap seven Keheley had contact with the turn four wall and fell back. Larson battled Dillon Silverman during the first half of the race with the duo swapping third and fourth place nearly every lap. Finally, on the 12th lap, Larson moved ahead and set out to catch second place Moore. On the 15th lap Larson executed a perfect slide job on Moore in turn four to take the spot. Larson began to slowly reel in Reddick but could not catch the fleet 10 year old in the remaining laps and settled for the runnerup position.

In the Open division Larson qualified sixth fast of the 31 entries to earn the pole position for the eight lap dash. Larson took the lead from the start and led every lap, but had to withstand a last lap charge from fast time qualifier Tyler McCain. Larson lined up fifth in the 22 kart 20 lap main event. As the green flag appeared the crafty veteran McCain went from outside of row three to the lead in less than a lap. Larson bounced between sixth and eight in the middle stages of the race but had fought back to fifth with a pass of Camron Mendes on the 18th lap. As Larson took the white flag he appeared to be on his way to a sure fifth place finish. However, Mendes plowed into Larson in turn one, reportedly due to a brake failure. The pair sat in turn one as the remaining field went by and Larson was scored with a 13th place finish.

Larson commented, “There heading into the last lap of the Open main I felt pretty fortunate to be able to be in the top five. The right side frame rail cracked early in the race and the kart was a handful to drive. I wanted to run the cushion but each time I tried I just about turned it over. So I just started to run the bottom and was able to work my way back up. Fifth place was looking pretty good to me, but after Camron got into me that ended that hope. The wreck pretty much finished the frame and cage off and my dad’s going to have to put another kart together. Next week we’ll probably just use the Open Intermediate kart to race in both divisions. We will just have to add weight for the Open Division and take it off for the Intermediate races. That kart felt the best to me tonight anyway. I do want to congratulate my Corning Ford and Broken Bow Record teammate Tyler Reddick on his first 500cc win ever at Cycleland. I’m sure it is just the first of many that he will get.”

Race: Maya 6, 2006
Photos Courtesy of Jack Waterman
www.kylelarsonracing.com