Kyle Larson Pads All Star Sprint Win Streak With $26K Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race Victory
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – PLYMOUTH, WI – For the 11th time in 2020, and for the sixth time in as many tries, Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson is an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, doing so in convincing fashion at the Plymouth Dirt Track in Plymouth, Wisconsin, on Thursday evening, July 30.
Scoring a monstrous $26,000 payday in the process, Larson’s Plymouth victory occurred during the second running of the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race, eventually topping a stout field of not only traveling All Stars, but also full-time IRA Outlaw Sprint Series contenders, and a handful of regional and national invaders.
Forced to navigate slower traffic for much of his campaign around the Plymouth bullring, Larson was quick to prove he was the class of the field, utilizing the outside-pole position to hunt down pole sitter and race leader, Gio Scelzi, by lap 12, eventually running away to a near-two and a half second advantage by the end of 35 circuits.
“This feels really good,” Kyle Larson said, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/Durst/Lucas Oil/Priority Aviation/No. 57 sprint car. “I had to earn it, for sure. The track was extremely technical and the curb wasn’t going anywhere. It made it trickier and trickier to run. The lappers were all so even with each other and I couldn’t get by some of them for such a long time. I really wasn’t sure how close second was to me, but once I got by some lapped cars, I was able to get a good rhythm going. This is such an awesome crowd. A big thanks to Kevin Rudeen and his entire family for what they do for this event. It’s not often that you get to race for this much money in a sprint car.”
After a pair of cautions during the initial start, one of which a red flag incident involving Austin McCarl, the third try proved to be the charm with KCP Racing’s Gio Scelzi earning the jump. The California hotshoe would lead the first six laps unscathed before entering traffic for the first time on lap seven.
The back of the field, mixed with an unforgiving cushion, proved to be a handful for Scelzi, as Larson quickly ran down the familiar No. 18 and was applying pressure by lap ten. Just two circuits later, it was Larson who was in control of the field, using a sleek move through the bottom of turns three and four to drive underneath Scelzi to lead lap 12.
By lap 17, the ‘Madman’ Kerry Madsen was the new man in charge of the runner-up position, wasting little effort to get by Scelzi before turning his attention to Larson. Despite a desperate effort by the Australia-native, Larson proved to be too much to overcome in traffic, solidifying his place in Plymouth Dirt Track victory lane with a three-wide move to put two lapped cars between himself and Madsen’s No. 2M.
“I don’t think I could have went many more laps,” Larson continued. “I was happy to see the checkers come out.”
At one point, Madsen was in striking distance, eradicating all lapped cars between himself and the race leader just beyond the midpoint of the 35-lap contest. Although unable to catch ‘Yung Money,’ Madsen held on to finish second, followed by Gio Scelzi, Dominic Scelzi and Cory Eliason
“During the middle stages there, things were really looking good for us,” Kerry Madsen said, driver of the Killer Instinct Crossbows No. 2M. “I didn’t force it with lapped cars probably like I should have. We had a great race car and the guys are working hard. I want to get some ‘W’s’ for this team. We have a long weekend ahead so hopefully we can climb our way to the top.”
What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue their four-race stretch with a visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Friday evening, July 31. The evening’s main event will award a $5,000 top prize.
Contingency Awards/Results: Plymouth Dirt Track – July 30, 2020:
Event: Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race/$26,000-to-win
Entries: 41
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Kyle Larson – 11.769
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 11.459
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Paul McMahan
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Zeb Wise
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Austin McCarl
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Jake Blackhurst
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Jeremy Schultz
Computer Man C-Main Winner: Mike Reinke
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Gio Scelzi
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Dash #2 Winner: Kyle Larson
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Tyler Courtney
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Russel Borland
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Skylar Gee (+7)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.707; 2. 64-Scotty Thiel, 11.850; 3. 17-Josh Baughman, 11.917; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 11.979; 5. 23-Russel Borland, 12.115; 6. 10w-Mike Reinke, 12.125; 7. 68-Dave Uttech, 12.149; 8. 71-Shane Stewart, 12.291; 9. O-Johnny Fahl, 12.778
Group (B)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi, 11.575; 2. 70-Cale Thomas, 11.760; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 11.922; 4. 11-Zeb Wise, 11.941; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.041; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 12.185; 7. 18S-Byrce Schmitt, 12.988; 8. 29-Hunter Custer, 13.198
Group (C)
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 11.682; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.764; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl, 12.012; 4. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 12.520; 5. 14R-Sean Rayhall, 12.697; 6. 25-Danny Schlafer, 12.739; 7. 4B-Scott Biertzer, 12.956; 8. 77-Wayne Modjeski, 13.288
Group (D)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 11.459; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 11.621; 3. 14P-Parker Price-Miller, 11.850; 4. 73-Jake Blackhurst, 12.246; 5. 20R-Robbie Pribnow, 12.445; 6. 12W-Josh Walter, 12.632; 7. 10V-Matt Vandervere, 12.731; 8. 19-Paige Polyak, 99.370
Group (E)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 11.720; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 11.791; 3. 4-Terry McCarl, 11.878; 4. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 11.905; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, 12.006; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.087; 7. 47-Todd King, 12.462; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz, 12.739
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 17-Josh Baughman [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 64-Scotty Thiel [3]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [5]; 6. 68-Dave Uttech [7]; 7. 10W-Mike Reinke [6]; 8. 71-Shane Stewart [8]; 9. O-Johnny Fahl [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 11-Zeb Wise [1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 3. 70-Cale Thomas [3]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]; 7. 29-Hunter Custer [8]; 8. 18S-Byrce Schmitt [7]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 17A-Austin McCarl [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 3. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [1]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer [6]; 6. 4B-Scott Biertzer [7]; 7. 14R-Sean Rayhall [5]; 8. 77-Wayne Modjeski [8]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 73-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 2. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [5]; 6. 10V-Matt Vandervere [7]; 7. 12W-Josh Walter [6]; 8. 19-Paige Polyak [8]
Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [1]; 2. 4-Terry McCarl [2]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]; 7. 47-Todd King [7]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [4]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 5. 73-Jake Blackhurst [3]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl [1]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 5. 70-Cale Thomas [3]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [6]
C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 10W-Mike Reinke [1]; 2. 47-Todd King [2]; 3. 14R-Sean Rayhall [4]; 4. 12W-Josh Walter [3]; 5. 4K-Kris Spitz [7]; 6. 29-Hunter Custer [5]; 7. 77-Wayne Modjeski [9]; 8. O-Johnny Fahl [11]; 9. 18S-Byrce Schmitt [8]; 10. 71-Shane Stewart [6]; 11. 19-Paige Polyak [10]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 4. 25-Danny Schlafer [6]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [4]; 6. 20R-Robbie Pribnow [5]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 8. 68-Dave Uttech [7]; 9. 10W-Mike Reinke [11]; 10. 10V-Matt Vandervere [9]; 11. 47-Todd King [12]; 12. 4B-Scott Biertzer [10]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [3]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [8]; 7. 11-Zeb Wise [5]; 8. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [14]; 9. 70-Cale Thomas [10]; 10. 17-Josh Baughman [16]; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel [13]; 12. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [11]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee [20]; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [21]; 15. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [12]; 16. 17B-Bill Balog [22]; 17. 64-Scotty Thiel [19]; 18. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [18]; 19. W20-Greg Wilson [23]; 20. 73-Jake Blackhurst [9]; 21. 4-Terry McCarl [15]; 22. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [17]; 23. 25-Danny Schlafer [24]; 24. 17A-Austin McCarl [6] Lap Leaders: Gio Scelzi (1-11), Kyle Larson (12-35)
