TWO TOP FIVES FOR LARSON AT CYCLELAND

Chico, CA – After a first lap spin relegated Kyle Larson to the tail of the 22 kart 500cc Open Intermediate Main event at Cycleland Speedway, the ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart driver put on a driving display as he passed 19 karts in 20 laps to cross the line in third at the finish. Unfortunately, track officials docked the driver two positions for an early race jump start, dropping the little leadfoot to fifth in the final race results. In the 500cc Open Division Larson battled race long with several competitors in the hotly contested main event and turned a ninth place start into a satisfying fourth place finish.

Larson qualified fourth of the 29 entries in the Open Intermediate division and started third in the six kart eight lap trophy dash. He drove to a dominating win that placed him fifth on the grid for the feature event. In turn one of the first lap Larson caught the inside berm and brought out the yellow flag. Restarting 22nd in the single file order Larson went to work quickly, moving to 14th after two laps. By lap four he moved the ParkerStore/Grandpa George Motor/QRC Factory Kart into the top ten. At the end of the eighth lap Larson had advanced to sixth with Josh Keheley taking over the lead from Cole Peard. Keheley and Mason Moore battled at the front with Moore leading from lap 13. By lap 16 Larson cracked the top three and began to close a big gap over the next three laps. Keheley retook the led from Moore on lap 18 just before the yellow flag appeared. The exciting run from the back came up a bit short for Larson as the top three positions stayed the same over the last two laps with Keheley 3/10ths of a second ahead of Larson, although it was soon announced Larson would be scored fifth.

In the Open Division Larson set fast time over 28 other competitors. He managed to advance one position in the dash to fifth, which placed him ninth in the lineup in the A-Main. The event proved to be hard fought as Larson was involved in several battles throughout the race. By the halfway point Larson was still mired in ninth, but by lap 16 he had battled his way to fifth and a lap later moved by Michael Helwig into fourth. On the 19th lap Helwig took the spot back before Larson finally claimed the position on the last lap as Camron Mendes drove to his first ever Open Division win.

At the end of the night, Larson commented, “What a night of hard racing. In the open division main I knew my kart was real fast but it seemed like when I would get a run on somebody something would scramble in front of me and slow my momentum. Over the last few laps things started to open up a little bit and I could race guys one on one. Over the last five laps Helwig and I had a good hard battle and it felt good to get that spot. Although fourth place isn’t a win, it felt real satisfying after the hard racing I had to do to get there. In the Open Intermediate main, I kind of blew it there at the start. But then I had to do what I could do to make it up. If the yellow didn’t come out with two laps to go I think I had the momentum going to where I could have crossed the line first. But I guess it really wouldn’t have mattered though after they said I jumped one of the early restarts. Really, I think what they got me for was not staying nose to tail during the restart. Either way, that was one of the most fun races I have ever had and we’ll take a top five finish and come back next week and try again.”

Race: July 15, 2006
Photos Courtesy of Jack Waterman
www.kylelarsonracing.com