Kyle Larson won the All Star stop at Atomic Thursday (Wayne Riegle Photo) (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com)
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (May 4, 2023) - In just his third sprint car start of 2023, “Yung Money” Kyle Larson is victorious with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1, doing so in Atomic Speedway’s “The Night The Stars Come Out” which also featured the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
Taking command just before the midpoint of the 30-lap program and never looking back, the Elk Grove, California, native, now a 28-time winner with “America’s Series,” earned a $10,000 payday for his efforts, forced to outduel two-time and reigning All Star champion, Tyler Courtney. Impressive enough, Kyle Larson is officially perfect in All Star attempts at the Chillicothe, Ohio, oval; two victories in two starts.
Larson, aboard his Folkens Brothers Trucking/Finley Farms No. 57 sprint car, took control officially on lap 13, sliding “Sunshine” and cutting the corner between turns one and two. The pair raced even at the flagstand just before Larson made his winning move; Courtney was stalled behind a slower lapped car which allowed Larson to close.
A caution on the final circuit would create some slight drama for the former NASCAR Cup Series champion, but the one lap dash proved to be no contest.
Tyler Courtney held on to finish second, followed by St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu, “The Law Firm” Parker Price-Miller, and third-starting Cale Thomas.
“This win means a lot. I love coming to Atomic Speedway. It’s a great track and it’s always elbows up,” Kyle Larson noted. “Our car was really good for the feature. With a guy like Tyler Courtney starting up front, you have to be aggressive. I was trying to be patient and I felt like we were pretty even. I was fortunate to get a run and clear him. Cautions fell my way but I was still forced to throw some bombs in traffic. Just a great effort by everyone involved.”
Tyler Courtney led the first 12 laps before surrendering the lead to Larson.
“I just got caught,” Courtney said. “One mistake and a guy like Kyle Larson is going to capitalize. But, we’re still second. We’ve had great cars all year long. Hopefully now we can build some momentum and keep this rhythm going.”
ON DECK:
Atomic Speedway kicked-off an action-packed May agenda for the All Star Circuit of Champions that will feature nine additional events across Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Series will return to action at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois, on Friday, May 12.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z
Contingency Awards/Results: Atomic Speedway | May 4, 2023:
The Night The Stars Come Out | $10,000-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 42
Macri Concrete Hot Laps: Zeb Wise | 11.335
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson | 11.040
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Skylar Gee
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Cale Thomas
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Mobil 1 Heat #5 Winner: Tim Shaffer
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Tyler Courtney
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting and Embroidery B-Main Winner: JJ Hickle
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Tezos A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Lance Dewease (+14)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Danny Smith
Qualifying
Group (A)
26-Zeb Wise, 11.177; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, 11.418; 3. 19P-Sean Rayhall, 11.580; 4. 5-Ryan Timms, 11.604; 5. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 11.711; 6. 70-Scotty Thiel, 11.766; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell, 11.786; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson, 11.924; 9. 59-Bryan Nuckles, 11.933
Group (B)
24-Rico Abreu, 11.114; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.246; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan, 11.346; 4. 69K-Lance Dewease, 11.505; 5. 5T-Travis Philo, 11.531; 6. 27-Emerson Axsom, 11.594; 7. 83X-Nate Reeser, 11.660; 8. 15k-Creed Kemenah, 11.946; 9. 11N-Harli White, 11.967
Group (C)
33W-Cap Henry, 11.355; 2. 91-Cale Thomas, 11.367; 3. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 11.560; 4. 5J-Jake Hesson, 11.564; 5. 52-Blake Hahn, 11.644; 6. 55B-Jake Swanson, 11.849; 7. 23-Zeth Sabo, 11.882; 8. 4U-Josh Davis, 12.102
Group (D)
57-Kyle Larson, 11.041; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.144; 3. 19M-Brent Marks, 11.259; 4. 29M-Cole Macedo, 11.464; 5. 97-JJ Hickle, 11.567; 6. 78-Justin Clark, 11.749; 7. 88C-Chad Miller, 12.441; 8. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 12.552
Group (E)
29-Parker Price Miller, 11.186; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer, 11.270; 3. 4-Chris Windom, 11.409; 4. 101-Kraig Kinser, 11.496; 5. 4S-Danny Smith, 11.718; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 11.801; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.046; 8. 1B-Keith Baxter, 12.556
Heat 1 (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
99-Skylar Gee [1]; 2. 19P-Sean Rayhall [2]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise [4]; 4. 5-Ryan Timms [3]; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson [8]; 6. 3J-Dusty Zomer [5]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell [7]; 8. 59-Bryan Nuckles [9]; 9. 70-Scotty Thiel [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
55-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [5]; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease [3]; 6. 27-Emerson Axsom [6]; 7. 15k-Creed Kemenah [8]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser [7]; 9. 11N-Harli White [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
91-Cale Thomas [1]; 2. A79-Brandon Wimmer [2]; 3. 33W-Cap Henry [4]; 4. 5J-Jake Hesson [3]; 5. 55B-Jake Swanson [6]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn [5]; 7. 23-Zeth Sabo [7]; 8. 4U-Josh Davis [8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 19M-Brent Marks [2]; 3. 29M-Cole Macedo [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 97-JJ Hickle [5]; 6. 78-Justin Clark [6]; 7. 88C-Chad Miller [7]; 8. 16TH-Kevin Newton [8]
Heat 5 (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
45-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 4-Chris Windom [2]; 3. 101-Kraig Kinser [3]; 4. 29-Parker Price Miller [4]; 5. 4S-Danny Smith [5]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [6]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 8. 1B-Keith Baxter [8]
Dash (6 Laps)
7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [2]; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer [4]; 5. 33W-Cap Henry [9]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 8. 26-Zeb Wise [8]; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [7]; 10. 29-Parker Price Miller [10]
B-main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
97-JJ Hickle [2]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [1]; 3. 4S-Danny Smith [3]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn [7]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [10]; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson [5]; 7. 78-Justin Clark [9]; 8. 88C-Chad Miller [15]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [14]; 10. 3J-Dusty Zomer [8]; 11. 27-Emerson Axsom [6]; 12. 28M-Conner Morrell [11]; 13. 23-Zeth Sabo [12]; 14. 55B-Jake Swanson [4]; 15. 1B-Keith Baxter [20]; 16. 15k-Creed Kemenah [13]; 17. 11N-Harli White [22]; 18. 16TH-Kevin Newton [19]; 19. 83X-Nate Reeser [16]
A-main (30 Laps)
57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 4. 29-Parker Price Miller [10]; 5. 91-Cale Thomas [3]; 6. 19M-Brent Marks [11]; 7. 45-Tim Shaffer [4]; 8. 69K-Lance Dewease [22]; 9. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]; 10. 22C-Cole Duncan [15]; 11. 5T-Travis Philo [18]; 12. 29M-Cole Macedo [16]; 13. 33W-Cap Henry [5]; 14. 4-Chris Windom [12]; 15. 5J-Jake Hesson [19]; 16. 26-Zeb Wise [8]; 17. 4S-Danny Smith [23]; 18. 99-Skylar Gee [7]; 19. 101-Kraig Kinser [17]; 20. 5-Ryan Timms [20]; 21. 52-Blake Hahn [24]; 22. 97-JJ Hickle [21]; 23. 19P-Sean Rayhall [14]; 24. A79-Brandon Wimmer [13] Lap Leaders: Tyler Courtney (1-12), Kyle Larson (13-30)
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (As of 5/4):
Brent Marks - 430
Tyler Courtney - 428
Parker Price-Miller - 418
Zeb Wise - 410
Cap Henry - 400
Travis Philo - 396
Hunter Schuerenberg - 384
Chris Windom - 380
JJ Hickle - 376
Cale Thomas -372
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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.
#Photo: Big Wayne Riegle
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com