BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Kyle Larson and Paul Silva left little doubt which sprint car team was the best prepared for the new season.
With Larson driving the Silva Motorsports No. 57 to a dominant $20,000 triumph on the final night of World of Outlaws competition during the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park, the team won two features and added second- and third-place finishes in four nights of action at the half-mile race track.
Ironically, Volusia is a track where Larson had never won. His solid week also paid off with the Big Gator trophy to the driver who performs best over four nights.
“This has just been a track that’s historically and statistically been probably our weakest,” Larson admitted. “It’s been great to come here and have speed every time we hit the track, and to cap off the week with a Big Gator is something I’ve honestly dreamt about for a long time just because of how bad we’ve been here. Great to get the win there.”
- With two victories this week, Kyle Larson has now won 37 career World of Outlaws features.
- Logan Schuchart and Shark Racing also had a solid week, which was capped off with a runner-up finish on Saturday.
Schuchart also posted finishes of fourth, third and eighth to start the season.
“I kind of wanted to push the issue there at the end,” Schuchart said. “I was kind of hoping the caution wouldn’t come out because I felt like we were really closing. Kyle was still kind of searching around a little bit, and I felt like maybe I could capitalize. But after the restart, I just wanted to play the tire game. I knew it was important to finish the race. Right there at the end he tried to go around a lapped car on the outside, and I thought I might be able to stick my nose in there, but I wasn’t quite close enough to make that happen.”
Reigning World of Outlaws champion David Gravel was winless on the weekend, but finished no worse than fourth in four races. He was third in Saturday’s finale, and was happy with his Big Game Motorsports team’s consistency.
“I’m kind of disappointed I lost second place there to Logan,” Gravel said after the race. “I didn’t really have a shot to win the race after that. We had the track position tonight and couldn’t capitalize. Sometimes that’s the way racing goes, but I’m very proud of the week we had.”
- Bill Balog had a solid night of racing, which included a heat race win and a third-place start in the feature, go awry when he flipped during the feature. Balog was transported to a local hospital to be examined for an ankle injury. He was released from the hospital Sunday morning.
- A strong week that included a victory on Thursday, ended on a sour note on Saturday for Christopher Bell and team owner Don Kreitz Jr. The familiar No. 69k machine experienced multiple engine problems and did not qualify for the main event.
- Kyle Larson, Logan Schuchart and David Gravel — the top three finishers on Saturday — were the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all four DIRTcar Nationals features.
- A miserable start to the season continued Saturday for Giovanni Scelzi and KPC Racing. Using a provisional starting spot for the second time during the week, Scelzi finished 16th.
He ranks 20th in the standings after four events, with a best finish of 14th.
- Donny Schatz, who raced from 12th to seventh on Saturday night, is the only competitor in the field racing with Fox Shocks. Fox, which is well known in motocross circles, has ventured into late model racing with success in recent seasons and is testing the sprint car waters with the Tony Stewart Racing team.
- Teenager Ryan Timms flew under the radar throughout the week, posting three top-10 finishes in four races. Timms will race primarily in the Midwest this season, while chasing the Knoxville Raceway track title.
- Since World Racing Group entered an agreement with ALT Sports Data for sports betting on World of Outlaws events, the organization’s gambling policy is discussed in driver’s meetings and is posted in the pit area at events.
- The World of Outlaws takes a nearly monthlong break before returning to Volusia for a two night (March 2-3) stand during Bike Week.
