Kyle Larson Becomes First Repeat Winner During 2018 Ohio Speedweek; Wins At Wayne County
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – ORRVILLE, OH – Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson became the first repeat winner of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by C&R Racing on Monday night at Wayne County Speedway, leading all 30 circuits to claim his second $5,000 top prize in three days, bumping his career-win total to three at Wayne County Speedway; eight in total against Tony Stewart’s All Stars.
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Larson, now a back-to-back winner at “Orrville’s Historic Oval” during Ohio Sprint Speedweek competition, earned his Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory from the outside-front row, getting the early jump on fellow California native Gio Scelzi, and Ohio favorite, the “Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild.
“We weren’t very good in our heat race, but Paul Silva made some adjustments and we were much better in the dash,” Kyle Larson said, driver of the Brandt/Priority Aviation/Eneos/No. 57 sprint car. “It’s really important to make the dashes. Not only does that put you closer to the front in the main, but it also gives you more access to the track so you can try and learn something. Hats off to Paul (Silva) and this entire team. He wasn’t too happy about last night, but he’s incredibly smart and keeps me going in the right direction.”
Utilizing the very topside of the speedway, Larson maintained a blistering pace during his campaign at the front of the field, very rarely having to deal with lapped traffic as four cautions, two of which resulting in red flag conditions, would keep the field in check.
Larson’s closest call of the main event occurred with just a handful of circuits remaining. Former Wayne County Speedway track champion, Andrew Palker, was beginning to reel in Larson as the front-runners entered traffic. Setting up Larson for a last-ditch effort takeover, Palker attempted to drive underneath Larson at the exit of turn four on lap 29, and again at the entrance of turn one on lap 30. Larson’s momentum proved to be too strong, holding on to score the Speedweek triumph.
Andrew Palker drove on to finish second during the 30-lapper, followed by recent Attica Raceway Park winner, Paul McMahan; Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo; and Norman, Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell.
Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by C&R Racing will continue on Tuesday evening, June 19, with a visit to Sharon Speedway in Hartford. Pit gates will swing open at 3 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, followed by the mandatory All Star meeting at 5:30 p.m. All Star hot laps are scheduled to hit the speedway for the first time at 6:20 p.m. Those seeking additional news and notes should visit Sharon Speedway live on the Web at www.sharonspeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Wayne County Speedway – Monday, June 18, 2018:
36th Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by C&R Racing: Round #4
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 52 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Carson Macedo- 14.932 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 14.336 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Jac Haudenschild
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Aaron Reutzel
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Paul McMahan
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Gio Scelzi
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5: Aryton Olsen
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-main: Parker Price-Miller
JE Pistons Dash #1: Jac Haudenschild
Wix Filters Dash #2: Kyle Larson
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Gerard McIntyre
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Kyle Larson
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Chad Kemenah (+16)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 14.336; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker, 14.498; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 14.659; 4. 45-Trevor Baker, 14.704; 5. 35s-Stuart Brubaker, 14.733; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.739; 7. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 14.801; 8. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 14.908; 9. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.979; 10. 9M-Jordan Ryan, 15.207; 11. 51-John Garvin, 15.703
Group (B)
1. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 14.686; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.819; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 14.884; 4. 23X-DJ Foos, 14.901; 5. 4K-Kasey Kahne, 15.009; 6. 19-Mitch Harble, 15.017; 7. 9j-Dean Jacobs, 15.229; 8. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 15.323; 9. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.399; 10. 4B-Steve Butler, 15.784; 11. 4KD-Kris Davis, 16.084
Group (C)
1. 39-Spencer Bayston, 14.725; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich, 14.836; 3. 11n-Christopher Bell, 14.859; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 14.932; 5. 17b-Josh Baughman, 14.936; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.960; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.003; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 15.019; 9. 17-Caleb Helms, 15.034; 10. 16-Danny Mumaw, 15.211
Group (D)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo, 14.632; 2. 5X-Justin Peck, 14.821; 3. 71X-Gio Scelzi, 14.925; 4. 7K-Cale Conley, 14.968; 5. 11-Ryan Smith, 15.014; 6. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 15.129; 7. 70-Dave Blaney, 15.159; 8. 97au-Mitchell Wormall, 15.189; 9. C1-Clay Riney, 15.217; 10. 98-Carl Bowser, 15.712
Group (E)
1. 97-Broc Martin, 15.141; 2. 21-Cap Henry, 15.205; 3. 38K-Brad Haudenschild, 15.216; 4. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 15.340; 5. 35-Tyler Esh, 15.377; 6. 14-Tony Stewart, 15.417; 7. 53-Jessie Attard, 15.554; 8. 23-Chase Baker, 15.573; 9. 33D-Tyler Dunn, 16.319; 10. 70M-Henry Malcuit, 16.450
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker [3]; 3. 45-Trevor Baker [1]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [5]; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]; 7. A79-Brandon Wimmer [8]; 8. 4-Parker Price-Miller [7]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [9]; 10. 9M-Jordan Ryan [10]; 11. 51-John Garvin [11]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 4K-Kasey Kahne [5]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [3]; 4. 9J-Dean Jacobs [7]; 5. 3J-Trey Jacobs [8]; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre [4]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs [9]; 8. 19-Mitch Harble [6]; 9. 23X-DJ Foos [1]; 10. 4B-Steve Butler [10]; 11. 4KD-Kris Davis [11]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 11N-Christopher Bell [2]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 4. 39-Spencer Bayston [4]; 5. 17B-Josh Baughman [5]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [7]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 8. 17-Caleb Helms [9]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 10. 16-Danny Mumaw [10]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 71X-Gio Scelzi [2]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 3. 5X-Justin Peck [3]; 4. 7K-Cale Conley [1]; 5. 11-Ryan Smith [5]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6]; 7. C1-Clay Riney [9]; 8. 97AU-Mitchell Wormall [8]; 9. 70-Dave Blaney [7]; 10. 98-Carl Bowser [10]
Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 71-Ayrton Olsen [1]; 2. 21-Cap Henry [3]; 3. 38K-Brad Haudenschild [2]; 4. 97-Broc Martin [4]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [5]; 7. 53-Jessie Attard [7]; 8. 33D-Tyler Dunn [9]; 9. 70M-Henry Malcuit [10]; 10. 23-Chase Baker [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 71X-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 3. 21-Cap Henry [6]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 5. 4K-Kasey Kahne [2]; 6. 71-Ayrton Olsen [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 4. 45-Trevor Baker [4]; 5. 11N-Christopher Bell [5]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]
C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 4-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 3. 19-Mitch Harble [2]; 4. 97AU-Mitchell Wormall [4]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [7]; 6. 33D-Tyler Dunn [5]; 7. 9M-Jordan Ryan [11]; 8. 23X-DJ Foos [6]; 9. 70-Dave Blaney [9]; 10. 23-Chase Baker [12]; 11. 4B-Steve Butler [13]; 12. 70M-Henry Malcuit [10]; 13. 4KD-Kris Davis [14]; 14. 5T-Travis Philo [8]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. O7-Gerard McIntyre [1]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 3. 11-Ryan Smith [4]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [8]; 5. 17B-Josh Baughman [3]; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan [7]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [9]; 8. 10H-Chad Kemenah [12]; 9. 4-Parker Price-Miller [16]; 10. A79-Brandon Wimmer [11]; 11. 53-Jessie Attard [15]; 12. 81-Lee Jacobs [14]; 13. C1-Clay Riney [13]; 14. 17-Caleb Helms [17]; 15. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 16. 3J-Trey Jacobs [5]; 17. 35-Tyler Esh [10]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker [4]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [7]; 5. 11N-Christopher Bell [10]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [15]; 8. 11-Ryan Smith [23]; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah [25]; 10. 7K-Cale Conley [18]; 11. 38K-Brad Haudenschild [16]; 12. 39-Spencer Bayston [17]; 13. 97-Broc Martin [19]; 14. 71-Ayrton Olsen [11]; 15. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 16. 9J-Dean Jacobs [20]; 17. 4K-Kasey Kahne [9]; 18. O7-Gerard McIntyre [21]; 19. 4-Parker Price-Miller [26]; 20. 24-Rico Abreu [24]; 21. 87-Aaron Reutzel [12]; 22. 71X-Gio Scelzi [1]; 23. 21-Cap Henry [5]; 24. 14-Tony Stewart [22]; 25. 5X-Justin Peck [14]; 26. 45-Trevor Baker [8] Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson (1-30)