Another top Five for Larson at Cycleland

Chico, CA – After posting his fourth straight top five finish in the 500 Open Division Saturday night at Cycleland Speedway misfortune struck ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart driver Kyle Larson while battling for second place in the Open Intermediate Division as his engine locked up just two laps short of the checkered flag.

Larson qualified second quick of 30 karts in the Open Division and drove from fifth to third in the six kart eight lap trophy dash, garnering the seventh starting position in the A-Main. After nearly spinning in turn two of the opening lap Larson found his ParkerStore/Grandpa George Motors/QRC Factory Kart back in eleventh place. By the lap 20 checkered flag Larson had fought his way back to fifth at the finish as Daniel Becker raced to his third feature win of the season.

Larson sped to his second fast time of the year at Cycleland in the 500cc Open Intermediate Division, as he outpointed 31 other competitors. He advanced from sixth to third in the dash, capturing the seventh starting place in both A-Mains. By lap seven Larson had gotten into second place behind eighth starting Brian Southers. In the last half of the race Mason Moore began to challenge Larson and took the position on lap 15. The duo raced nearly side by side in a crowd pleasing battle, with Moore running the bottom and Larson utilizing the cushion. The exciting matchup of championship contenders came to a conclusion on the 18th lap as Larson’s mount was brought to a sudden halt in turn four. He attempted to restart but could not get the kart to roll free. As he was towed off the track Southers continued on to his second victory at Cycleland, while Larson was scored 18th.

Larson commented at the conclusion of racing, “I’m pretty disappointed right now. To go from second or third to 18th puts a big hurt on my chances to defend my championship. We’ve had some pretty bad luck in that division the last month or so. I hope we didn’t hurt the engine. After checking things out we think the chain guard broke and locked the chain up. We’ll take the engine apart this week just to be sure and hopefully everything is ok. In the Open Division, I am happy with another top five finish. Consistency is the key to winning championships. I think we are nine points behind the defending champion, Tyler Wolf, and we’ll just come back next week and try to improve in both divisions.

Race: July 22, 2006
Photos Courtesy of Jack Waterman
www.kylelarsonracing.com