Kyle Larson’s barnstorming dirt victory lap around the country continued Friday night, this time at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World.”
Larson romped to a 3.1-second victory in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series 25-lap feature race at Knoxville Raceway, outdistancing 10-time series champion Donny Schatz.
It the second Outlaws victory of the season for Larson, who started sixth and led the final 16 laps of the main event after sweeping into first past Schatz and third-place finisher David Gravel.
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It also was his first win at Knoxville, the historic half-mile dirt oval in Knoxville, Iowa, where he has been a runner-up in the prestigious Knoxville Nationals.
It’s awesome,” Larson said. “It’s a pleasure to drive for (car owner and crew chief) Paul Silva and everybody who helps out on this team.
“Knoxville is one of my favorite tracks. Paul Silva has been working his butt off. I’ve been complaining to him a lot. But we’re a great team and like I said, it’s a pleasure to get to race for him.”
. @dirtvision REPLAY: Kyle Larson drives away from @DonnySchatz to score his second victory of the season tonight at @knoxvilleraces! #LiveNOS pic.twitter.com/eAFd8w1dpp
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) June 13, 2020
It also was the fourth sprint car victory in four states over the past six days for Larson.
He already had triumphed in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions at tracks in Park City, Kansas (June 7), Lawton, Oklahoma (June 8), and Mesquite, Texas (June 10).
With his 10th career Outlaws sprint car victory, Larson moved into a tie with Danny Smith and Joe Gaerte (the crew chief on Kyle Larson Racing’s No. 2 car for Carson Macedo, who finished fourth Friday) on the series’ all-time win list.
Larson, who has been focusing on sprint cars since his indefinite suspension from NASCAR for using a racial slur, has two victories and two runner-up finishes in his eight feature starts with the Outlaws this season.
He won the May 23 race at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, the night after finishing second to defending series champion and brother-in-law Brad Sweet at I-55.
He also finished second to Schatz in his most recent Outlaws start May 30 at Lake Ozark Speedway.
His worst finish in an Outlaws race this season is 10th twice -- the May 29 race at Lake Ozark and the May 8 race at Knoxville that marked the Outlaws Sprint Car Series’ return from a nearly two-month hiatus for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The May 8 event at Knoxville was held without fans; Larson’s victory Friday was before a limited crowd that was socially distanced in the grandstands.
NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will race again Saturday night at Knoxville (live broadcasts are available online at www.DIRTVision.com).
RESULTS
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 3. 41-David Gravel [1]; 4. 2-Carson Macedo [9]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [11]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [4]; 7. 39-Sammy Swindell [7]; 8. 71-Shane Stewart [5]; 9. 7-Tim Kaeding [20]; 10. 2M-Kerry Madsen [10]; 11. O9-Matt Juhl [12]; 12. 49-Brad Sweet [18]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart [25]; 14. 5X-Gio Scelzi [21]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [15]; 16. 17A-Austin McCarl [23]; 17. 83-Daryn Pittman [19]; 18. 39M-Anthony Macri [14]; 19. 14-Parker Price-Miller [16]; 20. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey [13]; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser [26]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [22]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen [17]; 24. 20-A.J. Moeller [8]; 25. 2C-Wayne Johnson [24]; 26. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; Lap Leaders: David Gravel 1, Donny Schatz 2-9, Kyle Larson 10-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 1S-Logan Schuchart[+12]
Qualifying Flight-A – 1. 41-David Gravel, 15.022; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.119; 3. 83R-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.121; 4. 39-Sammy Swindell, 15.158; 5. 2-Carson Macedo, 15.226; 6. 21-Brian Brown, 15.245; 7. 57-Kyle Larson, 15.333; 8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.386; 9. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 15.419; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.483; 11. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.537; 12. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 15.552; 13. 56N-Davey Heskin, 15.565; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 15.568; 15. 44S-Trey Starks, 15.607; 16. 83-Daryn Pittman, 15.652; 17. 17W-Shane Golobic, 15.661; 18. 5-Brent Marks, 15.684; 19. 7X-Justin Henderson, 15.727; 20. 55-Hunter Schuerenburg, 15.904; 21. 6-Bill Rose, 15.934; 22. 44-Chris Martin, 16.001; 23. 35-Zach Hampton, 16.037; 24. 15M-Bobby Mincer, 16.06; 25. 56-Joe Simbro, 16.375; 26. 14K-Tori Knutson, 16.994; 27. 1S-Logan Schuchart, NT
Qualifying Flight-B – 1. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.572; 2. 20-A.J. Moeller, 15.663; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.752; 4. O9-Matt Juhl, 15.804; 5. 5X-Gio Scelzi, 15.848; 6. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 15.872; 7. 39M-Anthony Macri, 15.873; 8. 71-Shane Stewart, 15.913; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 15.914; 10. 7-Tim Kaeding, 15.967; 11. 4-Terry McCarl, 16.007; 12. 17A-Austin McCarl, 16.009; 13. 55M-McKenna Haase, 16.016; 14. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 16.027; 15. 49-Brad Sweet, 16.035; 16. 2KS-Chad Boespflug, 16.145; 17. 9-Kasey Kahne, 16.197; 18. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 16.226; 19. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, 16.29; 20. 33M-Mason Daniel, 16.294; 21. 9W-Ryan Giles, 16.305; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 16.327; 23. 49J-Josh Schneiderman, 16.369; 24. R44-Jeff Swindell, 16.545; 25. 50-Mike Ayers, 17.405; 26. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, NT
