It’s difficult to find any blank areas on Kyle Larson’s racing résumé across multiple disciplines that he hasn’t accomplished in his career.
However, winning in Australia in a sprint car was one that the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion had not yet accomplished heading into High Limit Racing’s first international weekend at Western Australia’s Perth Motorplex.
Following two straight days of dominance from James McFadden on a home soil, Larson had the final say with a $100,000-to-win victory on Monday night.
It was an emphatic victory for Larson as he whipped his sprint car into a donut on the frontstretch following the win.
“Just a great car,” Larson began. “Thanks to Jason Pride and everybody involved. Trevor Canales too, it’s so fun to win with one of your best friends on the wrenches. Cool to bring a little bit of cash back to America.
“What a race, that was a lot of fun. One of the restarts didn’t work out for me and thankfully the next one did and I got right to second. Felt like I just needed to pace James until we got traffic.”
Larson snagged the lead from a surging McFadden with eight laps to go, where he hung on despite McFadden’s consistent pressure.
“It’s tough being the leader, it’s tough even being second or any position at that point because the track was changing so quick.
“He started running lower and I’m like, ‘Alright, this is my chance to build some momentum,’ and made some things happen,” Larson explained.
“It was a lot of fun. Great race track, great crowd. Really cool to get my first win here in Australia here at Perth.”
For Larson, the opportunity to race on a different soil made for a happy race car driver as it challenged him consistently throughout the 35-lap race.
“I love this style of dirt,” Larson said. “It changes so much. It’s a lot like Knoxville (Raceway in Iowa) where you’re constantly scanning the track with your eyes trying to see where the grip is, see where the crumbs are.
“There was some holes developing in (turn) three, so, just a lot of different ways to get around the track. Made a lot of fun.”
