Kyle Larson took the Ohio Speedweek opener at Attica Friday (Riegle Racing Photography) (Highlight Video from SpeedShiftTV.com)
ATTICA, Ohio (June 14, 2019) - Ohio Sprint Speedweek has certainly been kind to Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson, as each of his Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victories have occurred during Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing, including the 2019 opener at Attica Raceway Park.
Larson, pilot of the Chevrolet Accessories/Finley Farms/Priority Aviation/Howard Johnson of Lima/No. 57sprint car, dominated Speedweek competition at the Attica bullring on Friday night, ultimately leading 25 circuits of the 40-lap program and crossing under the final checkers with a margin of victory nearing eight seconds, all while lapping up to the 12th position. The $5,000 victory increased Larson’s Series win total to nine, now with two at Attica Raceway Park; his first since 2016.
“Just a great car all night,” Kyle Larson explained, who will join the All Stars during the next five nights of Ohio Sprint Speedweek. “It was either starting to clean off, or take a little bit of rubber through turns three and four. That made things pretty technical. At times, I felt like I needed to cheat it and run below it to stay on a clean track, but I knew I needed to be in the rubber at the same time. Definitely a fun track. I haven’t raced Attica too much, but this is the slickest Attica I’ve been on, so it’s pretty neat to get a win.”
Although starting from the pole position, ‘Yung Money’ Kyle Larson was beat to the initial punch, forced to follow defending All Star champion and current Series point leader, Aaron Reutzel, for the first 15 circuits. A pair of cautions, one appearing on lap five and another on lap ten, gave Larson a set of opportunities to earn the advantage over Reutzel, but the Clute, Texas-native remained strong and in control.
Unfortunately for Reutzel, but a fortune circumstance for Larson, lap 16 proved to be drama-filled for the front-runners, as a spinning car would create a definite road block leaving Reutzel will little time to react and nowhere to go. Eventual contact with the spinning car ended with Reutzel laying on his side, ultimately ending his evening at Attica Raceway Park. Reutzel’s early retirement inherited the lead to Larson, and that is where he stayed.
Despite Buddy Kofoid’s ability to hang with Larson during the first 15 circuits, actually showing Larson his nose on multiple occasions, the driver of the familiar Ed Neumeister-owned, No. 11N entry was no match for Larson during the latter stages of the main event. Larson eventually escaped in traffic, extending his lead to nearly eight seconds with over half of the field left a lap down.
Six-time All Star champion, Dale Blaney, eventually snuck by Kofoid on lap 27 to secure the second position. Kofoid held on to finish third at the final checkers, followed by DJ Foos and 12th-starting Tim Shaffer.
“I obviously caught a big break when Reutzel got caught up in that wreck. We were a little bit lucky tonight,” Larson continued. “It’s tough when you’re in second and the track is really dirty. I felt like Reutzel was a little bit better than me when he was leading, but then, once I was the leader, I felt like I was better than I had been when I was behind him.”
“I could actually see [Buddy] Kofoid to my inside at the beginning when I was in second, so when I got the lead, I kept peeking to my inside every corner waiting for him to show a nose.”
Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing will continue on Saturday evening, June 15, at the World’s Greatest Dirt Track - Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Fans should take note that Eldora Speedway’s event schedule has been modified with the intent to avoid threatening weather.
Saturday’s schedule now has the pit area opening to competitors at 1:30 p.m., the grandstands opening to spectators at 2 p.m., the All Star Circuit of Champions driver meeting beginning at 3:15 p.m., and hot laps on track at 4:10 p.m., sharp. Those seeking additional news and notes regarding Eldora Speedway’s Ohio Sprint Speedweek program should visit Eldora Speedway on the Web at www.eldoraspeedway.com.
Keep in mind, Speed Shift TV, the official online broadcast partner of the All Star Circuit of Champions in 2019, will be conducting live video broadcasts during eight of nine Ohio Sprint Speedweek programs; Attica Raceway Park - 6/14, Eldora Speedway - 6/15, Wayne County Speedway - 6/17, Sharon Speedway - 6/18, Atomic Speedway - 6/19, Mansfield Motor Speedway - 6/20, Limaland Motorsports Park - 6/21, Wayne County Speedway - 6/22.
Contingency Awards/Results: Attica Raceway Park - Friday, June 14, 2019:
Event: 37th Annual Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing
Entries: 53
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Kyle Larson - 12.761
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Aaron Reutzel - 12.478
Ford Performance Heat #1: Kyle Larson
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Justin Peck
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Buddy Kofoid
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Parker Price-Miller
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5: TJ Michael
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-Main Winner: Paul McMahan
JE Pistons Dash #1: Kyle Larson
Fatheadz Eyewear Dash #2: Aaron Reutzel
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Hunter Scherenberg [+11]
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Joey Saldana
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.478; 2. 11-Dale Blaney, 12.773; 3. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.812; 4. 91-Cale Thomas, 12.936; 5. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.062; 6. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.080; 7. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.096; 8. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.134; 9. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.308; 10. 6-Joey Saldana, 13.423; 11. 20i-Kelsey Ivy, ---
Group (B)
1. 23-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.867; 2. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.960; 3. 16-DJ Foos, 13.089; 4. 5X-Justin Peck, 13.106; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.366; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.370; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger, 13.580; 8. 71m-Paul May, 13.692; 9. 45-Trevor Baker, 13.820; 10. 29-Steve Butler, 13.918; 11. 40-George Hobaugh, 14.084
Group (C)
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.162; 2. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.169; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.297; 4. 52AU-Darren Mollenoyux, 13.322; 5. 25M-Chris Andrews, 13.355; 6. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.372; 7. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.378; 8. G1-Caleb Helms, 13.389; 9. 19-Mitch Harble, 13.672; 10. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 14.311; 11. 96AU-Bruce White, 14.671
Group (D)
1. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.290; 2. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 13.468; 3. 33W-Caleb Griffith, 13.500; 4. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.505; 5. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.584; 6. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.611; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.629; 8. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.678; 9. 17-Josh Baughman, 13.727; 10. 5H-Jordan Harble, 14.111
Group (E)
1. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.042; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.242; 3. 35b-Stuart Brubaker, 13.336; 4. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.354; 5. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.568; 6. 4-Cap Henry, 13.598; 7. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.618; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.660; 9. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.697; 10. 28W-Allen Woods, 13.866
Heat #1 - Group (A) (10 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 4. O9-Craig Mintz [6]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel [9]; 6. 6-Joey Saldana [10]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [7]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 10. 91-Cale Thomas [1]; 11. 20I-Kelsey Ivy [11]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (10 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 5X-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 16-DJ Foos [2]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 5. 8J-Jess Stiger [7]; 6. 71M-Paul May [8]; 7. 23-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [11]; 9. 45-Trevor Baker [9]; 10. 29-Steve Butler [10]; 11. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (10 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [2]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 3. 1ST-Gary Taylor [3]; 4. 25M-Chris Andrews [5]; 5. G1-Caleb Helms [8]; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams [10]; 7. 52AU-Darren Mollenoyux [1]; 8. 83M-Broc Martin [7]; 9. 19-Mitch Harble [9]; 10. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (10 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 2. 70X-Spencer Bayston [3]; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs [5]; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [6]; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre [7]; 6. 33W-Caleb Griffith [2]; 7. 5H-Jordan Harble [10]; 8. 17-Josh Baughman [9]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [8]
Heat #5 - Group (E) (10 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 8M-TJ Michael [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 3. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed [5]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [7]; 6. 57X-Andrew Palker [4]; 7. 4-Cap Henry [6]; 8. 35-Tyler Esh [9]; 9. 71-Ayrton Olsen [8]; 10. 28W-Allen Woods [10]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 4. 16-DJ Foos [6]; 5. 70X-Spencer Bayston [4]; 6. 5X-Justin Peck [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [4]; 3. 8M-TJ Michael [3]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [1]; 5. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [5]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6]
C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 2. 3C-Cale Conley [1]; 3. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 4. 45-Trevor Baker [10]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 6. 19-Mitch Harble [9]; 7. 29-Steve Butler [14]; 8. 28W-Allen Woods [13]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 10. 71-Ayrton Olsen [8]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 23-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 3. G1-Caleb Helms [4]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel [3]; 5. 6-Joey Saldana [9]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas [2]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [7]; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger [5]; 9. 4-Cap Henry [15]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [13]; 11. 13-Paul McMahan [17]; 12. 71M-Paul May [11]; 13. 46AU-Stuart Williams [12]; 14. 52AU-Darren Mollenoyux [14]; 15. 5H-Jordan Harble [16]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley [18]; 17. 33W-Caleb Griffith [10]; 18. 57X-Andrew Palker [8]
A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [5]; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [4]; 4. 16-DJ Foos [7]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12]; 6. 70X-Spencer Bayston [9]; 7. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [10]; 8. 5X-Justin Peck [11]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [18]; 10. 23-Hunter Schuerenberg [21]; 11. 5R-Byron Reed [19]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [22]; 13. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 14. 70-Brock Zearfoss [20]; 15. 13-Paul McMahan [25]; 16. 1ST-Gary Taylor [13]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee [26]; 18. O9-Craig Mintz [16]; 19. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [14]; 20. 3J-Trey Jacobs [15]; 21. G1-Caleb Helms [23]; 22. 1-Nate Dussel [24]; 23. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 24. 17B-Bill Balog [8]; 25. 25M-Chris Andrews [17]; 26. 14-Tony Stewart [3] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel [1-15], Kyle Larson [16-40]
2019 Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing Standings (After 6/14/2019):
1. Kyle Larson - 150
2. Dale Blaney - 146
3. Buddy Kofoid - 144
4. DJ Foos - 142
5. Tim Shaffer - 140
6. Spencer Bayston - 138
7. Parker Price-Miller - 136
8. Justin Peck - 134
9. Greg Wilson - 132
10. Hunter Schuerenberg -130
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 6/14/2019):
1. Aaron Reutzel - 1186
2. Dale Blaney - 1172
3. Spencer Bayston - 1168
4. Cory Eliason - 1136
5. Paul McMahan - 1128
6. Brock Zearfoss - 1104
7. Greg Wilson - 1086
8. Skylar Gee - 1070
9. Gerard McIntyre - 1036
10. Tyler Esh - 932
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Bubba Raceway Park (1/31/2019): Tim Shaffer
Bubba Raceway Park (2/1/2019): Tim Shaffer (2)
Bubba Raceway Park (2/2/2019): Tony Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/6/2019): Shane Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/7/2019): Brad Sweet
Virginia Motor Speedway (4/11/2019): Cory Eliason
Port Royal Speedway (4/13/2019): Lance Dewease
Attica Raceway Park (5/24/2019): Aaron Reutzel
Fremont Speedway (5/26/2019): Aaron Reutzel (2)
Outlaw Speedway (6/7/2019): Brock Zearfoss
Stateline Speedway (6/8/2019): Dale Blaney
Weedsport Speedway (6/9/2019): Danny Dietrich
Attica Raceway Park (6/14/2019): Kyle Larson
About Cometic Gasket:
Cometic Gasket is the Official Gasket of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1. Cometic is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive Performance, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Cometic gaskets are must-haves for championship-winning teams across the globe. Cometic Gaskets are proudly made in the USA. For more information, log on to www.cometic.com.
About Indy Metal Finishing:
Based in Brownsburg, IN, Indy Metal finishing, Inc. provides high quality metal finishing services and is dedicated to customer satisfaction through strict process control and excellent communication during and after job completion. Our mission is to support our customers with an exceptional level of quality and service that sets the bar for the metal finishing industry. To meet our customer's delivery expectations with unsurpassed customer service and technical support while developing new and innovative ways to meet today's business dynamics.
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2019, MAVTV Motorsports Network will continue to be the official television home of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast ten high-profile events.
About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet:
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., founded in 1982, is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts and excess inventory, offering real brands at real bargain prices. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s has a huge variety of famous brand-name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring, seasonal items and so much more – at up to 70 percent off the fancy stores’ prices. You never know what you’ll find at one of Ollie’s 327 “semi-lovely” stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, visit www.ollies.us. Like us on Facebook or find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet. Ollie’s is a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OLLI.
About Mobil 1:
The world's leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
For more information, visit mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1.
Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
#Photo Credit: Riegel Racing Photography
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com