Kyle Larson swept the weekend with the WoO at Knoxville (Knoxville Raceway Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (June 13, 2020) – Kyle Larson is hard to beat right now. The Elk Grove, California native notched his fifth consecutive sprint car victory and his second straight with the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws in sweeping the Brownells Big Guns Bash weekend at Knoxville Raceway. Larson earned $10,000 for his fifth career Knoxville win aboard the Kyle Larson Racing #57 wrenched by Paul Silva on Saturday night.
Dash winner Daryn Pittman looked strong out front early in the 30-lap feature ahead of Brad Sweet and Parker Price-Miller. Larson shot from fifth to third on lap two. Brian Brown passed Price-Miller for the fourth spot on lap three.
Larson measured Sweet up and took second on lap four. Meanwhile, Carson Macedo was working his way forward from 13th to settle into fifth on lap seven. Brown also gained momentum and got by Sweet for third on lap eight.
Pittman had built almost a one second lead on Larson with nine laps down. Unfortunately, the lapped car of David Gravel drastically slowed in front of him in turn two, and the leader couldn’t avoid him. Both cars went to the work area to make repairs, while Larson assumed the lead.
The restart saw Kerry Madsen surge from tenth to fifth, but that was negated when Price-Miller came to a stop in turn four. Larson chose the inside line when the green fell again, but Brown was all over him. Brown would slide in front of Larson in turns one and two on the eleventh lap to take the lead.
Larson had lost some momentum, and lost second to Sweet for a lap before regaining his composure the following circuit and retaking the runner-up spot. Soon it was Brown who felt the heat from Larson, and Kyle took the point for good on lap 14.
Great racing continued behind the leaders throughout. Sweet was able to gain second from Brown at the halfway point, and Logan Schuchart and Sheldon Haudenschild had a heat battle as they entered the top five.
Larson won by nearly three seconds over his brother-in-law Sweet, who was followed by Schuchart, who took third with two to go, Macedo and Haudenschild. Brown, Kerry Madsen, Rico Abreu, Ian Madsen and Sammy Swindell rounded out the top ten. Macedo and Price-Miller set quick time over their respective groups, while Abreu, Jacob Allen, Price-Miller and Larson won heat races. Mark Dobmeier won the Non-qualifier heat, Brent Marks claimed the C main and Gravel took the B.
A number of incidents slowed the second heat race. In the first, AJ Moeller and Mason Daniel were victims of cars in front of them getting together. Both were o.k., but done for the night. Later, Shane Stewart flipped in turn four after contact with McKenna Haase, who was involved in an accident that collected Matt Juhl. After the checkers flew for the C, Tasker Phillips tipped over in an incident that also saw Jason Sides involved.
“I took a glance on the big screen and saw (Brown) was right on me,” said Larson in Victory Lane. “I knew he was going to run the top in three and four, and I thought if I was good there he may not be able to slide me, but I didn’t get through there like I needed to. He got the run and got by me. I knew my car was really good, so I stayed patient behind him. Then Brad got to my inside. Thankfully, I cleared him off of two. Otherwise, that could have been the deciding factor of the race. I was able to hit the bottom and get back to Brown and slide him. From then on, my car just felt really, really good.”
“He did a really good job,” said Sweet of Larson. “He was driving really hard. He’s a great racecar driver. He runs the car on the ragged edge and gets by lapped cars. We’ve just got to pick up our game a little coming back for the Nationals, but we had a good racecar tonight compared to last night. We have great notes moving forward. I’m proud of our effort.”
“This place is so cool,” said Schuchart. “It seems like every time you come here, it’s something different. I believe the Nationals last year, I was running the bottom of turns one and two and the top of three and four. This race, it was the complete opposite. You never know what you’re going to get. They do such a great job at the racetrack. It’s wide, but the lines can change. You just have to stay on top of it. It’s a tough deal, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Join us Saturday, June 20 for Hy-Vee Night at Knoxville Raceway! The 410, 360 and Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance will all be in action. It is also $1 Busch Light night. For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
410 Results
Time Trials Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 2, Carson Macedo, Lemoore, CA (2), 15.090; 2. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (3), 15.097; 3. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (9), 15.260; 4. 55M, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (6), 15.310; 5. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (4), 15.392; 6. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (7), 15.414; 7. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (22), 15.505; 8. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (1), 15.625; 9. 83R, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (20), 15.648; 10. 1S, Logan Schuchart, Hanover, PA (21), 15.715; 11. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (27), 15.721; 12. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (15), 15.747; 13. 5, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (14), 15.763; 14. 71, Shane Stewart, Bixby, OK (24), 15.785; 15. 44S, Trey Starks, Puyallup, WA (12), 15.790; 16. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (18), 15.824; 17. 41, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (26), 15.850; 18. 55, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (11), 15.879; 19. 2KS, Chad Boespflug, Hanford, CA (10), 15.921; 20. 33M, Mason Daniel, Springville, CA (16), 15.929; / 21. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (13), 15.943; 22. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (25), 15.962; 23. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (23), 16.005; 24. 6, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (8), 16.027; 25. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (17), 16.052; 26. 56, Joe Simbro, Pleasantville, IA (5), 16.075; 27. 14K, Tori Knutson, Monticello, MN (19), 17.114
Time Trials Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 14, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (11), 15.679; 2. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (24), 15.734; 3. 5X, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (18), 15.871; 4. 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA (23), 15.896; 5. 83, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (2), 15.901; 6. 2M, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (19), 15.925; 7. 7X, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (6), 15.960; 8. 39, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (7), 15.986; 9. 2C, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (3), 16.003; 10. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (5), 16.049; 11. R44, Jeff Swindell, Memphis, TN (12), 16.099; 12. 3, Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (9), 16.128; 13. 4, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (16), 16.158; 14. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (4), 16.162; 15. 7, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA (20), 16.217; 16. 15M, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (10), 16.217; 17. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (21), 16.236; 18. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (1), 16.274; 19. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (8), 16.326; 20. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (14), 16.333; / 21. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (26), 16.357; 22. 27, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Paola, KS (22), 16.381; 23. 7S, Jason Sides, Bartlett, TN (15), 16.445; 24. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (25), 16.466; 25. 9W, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (17), 16.543; 26. 50, Mike Ayers, Waukee, IA (13), 17.228.
Non-Qualifier Heat (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Mark Dobmeier (2); 2. Shane Golobic (5); 3. Kasey Kahne (3); 4. Jason Sides (6) / 5. Chris Martin (8); 6. Kraig Kinser (9); 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (4); 8. Ryan Giles (10); 9. Bill Rose (7); 10. Zach Hampton (1); 11. Joe Simbro (11); 12. Tori Knutson (13); 13. Mike Ayers (12);
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:11.3: 1. Rico Abreu (2); 2. Brian Brown (4); 3. Lynton Jeffrey (5); 4. Carson Macedo (1); 5. Donny Schatz (6) / 6. Anthony Macri (3); 7. David Gravel (9); 8. Trey Starks (8); 9. Mark Dobmeier (11); 10. Brent Marks (7); 11. Chad Boespflug (10)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Jacob Allen (1); 2. Logan Schuchart (5); 3. Ian Madsen (3); 4. Shane Golobic (11); 5. Davey Heskin (4) / 6. Hunter Schuerenberg (9); 7. McKenna Haase (2); 8. Matt Juhl (8); 9. Shane Stewart (7); 10. AJ Moeller (6); 11. Mason Daniel (10)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Parker Price-Miller (1); 2. Daryn Pittman (3); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (9); 4. Justin Henderson (4); 5. Tim Kaeding (8) / 6. Terry McCarl (7); 7. Kasey Kahne (11); 8. Jeff Swindell (6); 9. Josh Schneiderman (10); 10. Wayne Johnson (5); 11. Gio Scelzi (2)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:12.8: 1. Kyle Larson (1); 2. Brad Sweet (2); 3. Kerry Madsen (3); 4. Tyler Courtney (7); 5. Sammy Swindell (4) / 6. Austin McCarl (5); 7. Jac Haudenschild (6); 8. Jason Sides (11); 9. Sawyer Phillips (9); 10. Tasker Phillips (10); 11. Bobby Mincer (8)
C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:57.8: 1. Brent Marks (1); 2. Tasker Phillips (4); 3. Kraig Kinser (8); 4. Ryan Giles (10); 5. Wayne Johnson (2); 6. Chris Martin (5); 7. Bobby Mincer (6); 8. Chad Boespflug (3); 9. Bill Rose (7); 10. Joe Simbro (9); 11. Zach Hampton (12); 12. Tori Knutson (13); 13. Mike Ayers (11) DNS – AJ Moeller, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Mason Daniel
Dash (started), 6 Laps, 1:43.2: 1. Daryn Pittman (2); 2. Brad Sweet (3); 3. Parker Price-Miller (1); 4. Kyle Larson (5); 5. Rico Abreu (4); 6. Brian Brown (8); 7. Jacob Allen (6); 8. Logan Schuchart (7)
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:30.4: 1. David Gravel (6); 2. Anthony Macri (2); 3. Austin McCarl (5); 4. Hunter Schuerenberg (4); 5. Trey Starks (8); 6. Mark Dobmeier (12); 7. Matt Juhl (10); 8. Kasey Kahne (7); 9. Jac Haudenschild (9); 10. Jason Sides (13); 11. Tasker Phillips (18); 12. Brent Marks (17); 13. Josh Schneiderman (15); 14. Sawyer Phillips (16); 15. McKenna Haase (1); 16. Shane Stewart (14); 17. Terry McCarl (3); 18. Jeff Swindell (11) DNS – Gio Scelzi
A main (started), 30 Laps, NT: 1. Kyle Larson (4); 2. Brad Sweet (2); 3. Logan Schuchart (8); 4. Carson Macedo (13); 5. Sheldon Haudenschild (10); 6. Brian Brown (6); 7. Kerry Madsen (12); 8. Rico Abreu (5); 9. Ian Madsen (11); 10. Sammy Swindell (20); 11. Donny Schatz (17); 12. Tyler Courtney (16); 13. Shane Golobic (15); 14. Tim Kaeding (18); 15. Anthony Macri (22); 16. Austin McCarl (23); 17. Justin Henderson (14); 18. Daryn Pittman (1); 19. David Gravel (21); 20. Parker Price-Miller (3); 21. Jacob Allen (7); 22. Davey Heskin (19); 23. Hunter Schuerenberg (24); 24. Lynton Jeffrey (9). Lap Leaders: Pittman 1-9, Larson 10, Brown 11-13, Larson 14-30. Hard-charger: S. Swindell.