Kyle Larson became known as “Yung Money” early in his career, but he couldn’t quite take home the big money Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway.
SARVER, Pa. — Kyle Larson became known as “Yung Money” early in his career for his exploits in a sprint car, but he couldn‘t quite take home the big money Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway.
Larson, who came in as the defending winner of the $25,000 Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at the four-tenths-mile Pennsylvania dirt track, came one position shy of going back-to-back in the crown jewel World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event.
He started sixth in the 40-lap main event after winning his heat race and charged up to second by the halfway point, passing early leader James McFadden for that position coming to the crossed flags.
At that point, Larson was 2.5 seconds adrift of Gravel, who had taken the lead on the 15th circuit in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41, but Larson slowly began chipping away at that deficit.
In five laps, it was down underneath two seconds, and at the 10 to go mark the Paul Silva-prepared No. 57 was less than one second back of Gravel‘s leading mount.
However, that‘s exactly when Gravel hit the afterburners and took off through traffic, quickly re-extending the lead out over two seconds and ultimately crossing under then checkered flag more than four seconds clear of Larson in the end.
Larson was quick to point out after the race that Gravel simply was able to cut through the slower cars ahead easier than he was, forcing the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series star to settle for second.
“I thought I had a shot the first time that he and I got to heavy traffic, but once we got to the heavier stuff, he did a really good job of getting through that mess,” Larson said of Gravel. “I didn‘t really feel like I got hung up; he just got through it really fast. His car was good all night, and ours was pretty good too, but I just needed a little bit more to be able to move around and run the lines that he was running.
“All in all, this was a good night for us,” Larson added. “We finished second; I think every time I‘ve brought a car here I‘ve been in the top two. We‘re happy about that, but I‘d like to be one spot better.”
Larson has two prior World of Outlaws wins from earlier in the season, which came in late May and early June at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and Fairbury (Ill.) American Legion Speedway, respectively.
His next scheduled sprint car appearance will be during his preliminary night for the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, where he‘s contended for the victory the last two years.