Following his recent racing redemption story at Federated Auto Parts Raceway, Kyle Larson raced his way back to the top this weekend at Knoxville Raceway. Although his last attempt at a sweeping victory on a double header weekend fell short, Larson used his past experience to drive past well-known drivers like Donny Schatz and David Gravel to claim victory in both Friday and Saturday night’s feature races at what many refer to as The Sprint Car Capital of the World.
During the first night of the Brownells Big Guns Bash doubleheader, Gravel, who won the Knoxville race in May, and 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz appeared to be the favorites. Despite Gravel setting the Quick Time for the third time this year and Schatz’s speed improving throughout the night, Larson darted his way from sixth to third on the first lap. Five laps later, he worked his way around the outside of Gravel to take second. A caution on Lap 6 then put Larson on the bumper of Donny Schatz.
On the restart, Larson launched ahead of Schatz to take the race lead. That is until Rico Abreu flipped in Turn 2 before the lap was completed, which put Larson’s nemesis back on top. When the race went back to green Schatz put a two-car length lead on Larson until this ever-adaptable driver found a new line that cut Schatz’s lead from half a straightaway to nothing in about three laps.
With 15 laps remaining, Larson finally drove his way to the lead and did not let anything stop him from driving away for his first victory of the weekend by 3.1 seconds ahead of Schatz.
As the green flag waved on his second race of the weekend, Larson seemed poised to let no one and nothing stand in his way of his trophy hunting path. After qualifying second in his Flight and going on to win the fourth Drydene Heat Race of the night, Larson would start Saturday night’s 30 Lap feature inside the top five.
While Daryn Pittman made the rest of the field look like they were down a cylinder after starting on the pole, within six laps the race leader would find himself in a battle with the No. 41 of David Gravel, which left the two touching wheels and spinning each other out.
This driver’s misfortune gave Larson the chance to take the lead. Although this lead would be short-lived, after reigning Knoxville Raceway track champion Brian Brown took it from him on Lap 11, Larson found his way back on top in the final 17 Laps of this race. As he continued to fend off challenges from last weekend’s race winner Brad Sweet, Larson maintained about a three second lead ahead of his brother-in-law and took this all the way to a double-header victory.
“This weekend was awesome,” said Larson. “It is such a pleasure to drive for my car owner and crew chief Paul Silva and everybody who helps out on this team. It just means a lot to be out here having fun, challenging for wins every night and to drive to victories like this in front of a great crowd.”
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN, for the Series’ first doubleheader weekend at the track on Fri., June 19 and Sat. June 20. Saturday night’s race will be a historic event for the Series as it will be broadcasted live on CBS Sports Network, starting at 9 p.m. (ET). Stay tuned to RacingJunk.com for the latest of racing in the dirt.
I like Kyle Larson and recognized him as a winner right from his entry into Cup racing. I usually pull for Kyle & Bubba Wallace….How ironic. I hope Hendrick Motorsports is smart enough to sign Kyle. He’ll gain sponsors after he wins a few and he’s gotta run trucks, xfinity & Cup to keep him sharp. This is how Kyle Bush attained over 100 total wins thus far. “he who is without sin…cast the first stone”