TULARE, Calif. — Kyle Larson started his Saturday with his attention on his NASCAR Cup Series duties in Phoenix Raceway and capped it with a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory at his favorite race track in his home state.
The Elk Grove, Calif., native drove from sixth to the front at Thunderbowl Raceway to collect his 25th career WoO triumph. It was his fifth series victory in California and first in the Golden State since 2013 at Antioch Speedway.
Larson also helped crew chief, Paul Silva, continue a recent stretch of success in Tulare. Last October Buddy Kofoid teamed with Silva to pilot the Works Limited No. 57 at the Trophy Cup, with the pairing earned finishes of first and second on the preliminary nights. In the finale, Kofoid came from 20th to fourth to seal his first Trophy Cup title.
Oddly enough, Larson was getting his first laps at Tulare this weekend since winning the Trophy Cup with Silva in 2013. On top of winning Saturday, Larson finished a stout third on Friday.
• Filling the runner-up spot was Larson’s brother-in-law, Brad Sweet.
The Grass Valley, Calif., native scored his fifth top-five finish in the last six races as he looks to close in on the early season point leader David Gravel.
Speaking of Gravel, the Big Game Motorsports wheelman completed the podium as he continues to roll through February and March.
After missing out on the dash, Gravel rallied from ninth to snag third and improve his average finish this season to 3.4.
He’s finished in the top 10 in all seven races this season.
• An issue derailed a potential win for Spencer Bayston on Friday night, but he rebounded on Saturday to finish fourth, his best mark of the season as he continues his rookie WoO campaign.
• A little further down the order one of the bigger stories of the night could be found with Dominic Scelzi claiming seventh.
The elder Scelzi brother led nine laps in the early going and looked as if he may be on his way to an inaugural series victory to complete a Scelzi family sweep of the weekend, but he faded slightly in the latter half of the 35-lap feature.
Scelzi also finished second in the night’s Kings of Thunder 360 sprint car feature.
• Dominic’s brother and Friday night winner, Gio Scelzi, finished ninth.
“Hot Sauce” made it five straight WoO top-10s after struggling in the first two nights of racing back in February. The KCP Racing driver boasts a 6.6 average finish over that stretch.
• Rounding out the top-10 was a hard-charging Sheldon Haudenschild.
Haudenschild turned in a quintessential performance after transferring out of the last chance showdown, ripping his way toward the front to salvage a decent points night.
• A notable finisher could be found just outside the top-10 as Mitchell Faccinto climbed to 11th from 13th.
Faccinto is still new in his driving duties with Tarlton Motorsports and improved nine spots from Friday night and also notched his second-best career finish with the WoO by claiming 11th.
• Next up for the WoO spring California swing will be a pair of bullrings in Merced Speedway and Watsonville, Calif.’s Ocean Speedway this Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th.