Chico, CA – Overcoming a dismal finish in the 500cc Open Intermediate Division main
event that significantly hurt his chances to repeat as Cycleland Speedway Champion,
ParkerStore Outlaw Sprint Kart driver Kyle Larson recovered in the top Open Division and
closed the point gap to five points with a fourth place finish in the feature race.
Larson qualified fourth fast in the Open Intermediates and third in the Open Division. He
started third in the six kart eight lap Open Intermediate dash and finished second while
he started fourth and finished there in the Open dash.
The Open Intermediate main found Larson starting sixth in the 22 kart lineup. By lap two
Larson had jumped to third behind polestarter Dillon Silverman and Cole Peard. A
restart on lap ten saw the lapped kart of Mike Schroeder spin in front of Larson,
collecting the ParkerStore machine. Larson was able to get untangled and emerge in ninth
place. However, two laps later Larson’s chain came off, ending his race. As Silverman
went on to lead every lap Larson was scored 20th.
Larson
started eighth in the Open Division feature and settled there through lap five. Over the
next three laps Larson passed a kart each lap and was fifth on lap eight. He remained
there for the next four laps before advancing one more position on lap 12. As Jerry
Johnson led all twenty laps to score his first ever Cycleland win Larson held fourth to
the checkered flag, topping point leader Tyler Wolf by two spots and cutting Wolf’s
point lead to five.
When asked to comment at the end of the night Larson said “I know my chances to
defend the Open Intermediate title here got hurt pretty bad again tonight, but I
won’t give up trying until it’s officially over. We’ve had problems the
last two weeks with chain issues and have lost about 70 points. I want to win every
championship I go for, but the Open Division is the one I want most because it is the top
division and this is my first attempt at it. Fortunately, and knock on wood, I keep
getting top five finishes and am staying in contention for it. I know Tyler Wolf, who is
the defending champion, will be tough to the end. But I’m really looking forward to
the next couple of months. I also want to wish my good friend Alissa Geving a speedy
recovery and hope she’ll be back at the track soon.”
Race: July 29, 2006
Photos Courtesy of Jack Waterman
www.kylelarsonracing.com
