MESQUITE, Texas – Kyle Larson continued his impressive performance during the Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions on Wednesday at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
The California native earned his third-straight All Star victory on Wednesday evening aboard the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/GSR/No. 57.
Larson kicked-off his four-race Midwest venture with a runner-up finish at Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., and has now followed it up with wins at 81 Speedway in Kansas, Oklahoma’s Lawton Speedway and now Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Larson utilized the outside-pole position to eventually snag the race lead and another $5,000 top prize. Allowing slower cars to help in his pursuit of the front, Larson took command for the first time on lap 14, ultimately driving underneath race leader Kasey Kahne at the exit of turn four and defeating the Washington-native in a drag race back to the flag stand.
That drag race, won by a mere-.03 seconds, would be the final time Larson was challenged during the 25-lap distance, as caution flaps would wave the following circuit creating a restart situation in clean air for the Elk Grove, Calif.-native.
Kahne held on to finish second at Devil’s Bowl, followed by an eighth-starting Scott Bogucki, Cory Eliason and Aaron Reutzel, who advanced six positions to seal his top-five outcome.
“I was trying to be patient, but it got to the point where I told myself ‘it’s only a 25-lap race, so I’m probably being a little too patient.’ It was time to go,” Larson said, who now owns 13 All Star Circuit of Champions victories. “I ran a few really hard laps there and ended up getting by Kasey (Kahne) just before the caution came out. I felt really good. Honestly, I think the car got better and better every time we hit the track and I feel like we definitely learned a lot tonight. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the rest of the year.
“A big thanks to Paul Silva and Doug. They’ve been logging a lot of hours up and down the road this week and a lot of late nights and early mornings. We’ve had so many supporters step up and help us out and that means the world to me. To all of the fans, thank you so much for supporting local racing and staying up late to watch us race. It means the world to us.”
The finish:
1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 9-Kasey Kahne[1]; 3. 28-Scott Bogucki[8]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason[5]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[11]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan[7]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[14]; 9. 70-Justin Peck[9]; 10. 17-Josh Baughman[13]; 11. 48-Danny Dietrich[6]; 12. 23B-Brian Bell[10]; 13. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[20]; 14. 11X-John Carney II[12]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson[15]; 16. 14-Tony Stewart[16]; 17. 11-Zeb Wise[19]; 18. 16A-Justin Sanders[18]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[23]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee[4]; 21. 21P-Robbie Price[24]; 22. 72-Chris Tarrant[21]; 23. 4-Danny Smith[17]; 24. 9$-Kyle Clark[22]