Third At Placerville Civil War Keeps Larson In Title Chase Another run from deep in the pack for birthday boy
Placerville, CA. August 2, 2008. If passing points were a component of the Hoosier Tire
California 360 Sprint Car Civil War Series Kyle Larson might have a pretty comfortable
point lead at this point. With previous Civil War runs at Placerville (C-main to A-main),
Calistoga (19th to sixth), and Petaluma (17th to fifth), added to last Saturday’s
charge from 15th to third
at Placerville, Larson is quickly earning a reputation as a driver who will find a way to
the front. And despite point leader Sean Becker taking the win from third starting,
Larson, who celebrated his 16th birthday two days prior, was able to stay solidly in
second place in points after round 10 of the season long 15 race series. The soon to be
high school junior is now trailing by eight points.
Qualifying 21st fast of the 43 cars on a rapidly drying track placed Larson’s Dave
and Debbie Vertullo CRV Racing Products/Eagle/Kistler mount outside of Steve Osborne in
heat two. Osborne got the jump at the start and led the distance with Larson transferring
into the A-main with his runner-up finish.
As the green flag unfurled for the
feature race Larson slowly began his run to the front of the pack. As David Robinson Jr.
led from the start, lap seven saw Larson first crack the top ten as he jumped from 11th to
ninth. He executed a picture perfect slide job on Andy Forsberg in turn two of lap 11 to
take the eighth position. On lap 13 an outside pass of fast time qualifier Camron Mendes
down the backstretch pushed Larson into seventh, while Jimmy Trulli was disposed of down
the frontstretch on the next lap. Lap 18 saw Larson get by Herman Klein to advance into
the top five.
On lap 21 third place
Colby Weisz, who was trailing Robinson Jr. and James Sweeney, grazed the front straight
wall allowing fourth running Becker and Larson to slide into third and fourth. On lap 23
Sweeney attempted a slide job on Robinson Jr. in turn four but his machine began to spin
into Robinson Jr.’s path, which caused contact between the duo. Robinson Jr. was able
to keep his car going forward and maintain the lead as the yellow appeared for the stalled
Sweeney.
Once the race restarted Becker began to apply heavy pressure to Robinson Jr. as Larson sat
poised to take advantage of any miscue by either. On lap 26 Becker completed the pass on
Robinson Jr. in turn three
and four to take over the lead. Robinson Jr. made one last attempt at a slide job on
Becker in turn one of the final lap, but to no avail. The move allowed Larson to quickly
close ground and put a slide job on Robinson Jr. in turn three. But as the youngster hit
the cushion in turn four the veteran Robinson Jr. reclaimed second on his way to the
checkered flag to conclude an exciting night of racing before reportedly the largest crowd
in Placerville Speedway history.
Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by CRV Racing Products, Starr Real Estate and
Property Management, Global ParkerStore, Safety Solutions – LFT Technologies, D &
J Towing, RPM Indoor Kart Racing and Conference Center, A.R.T. Ent. Speed Equipment,
Wion’s Body Shop and Powdercoating, JW Web Design, Mophead Graphix, SWEPCO
Lubricants, Sierra Tire and Wheel, and Wyman Construction.
