Kyle Larson Scores Ohio Sprint Speedweek Victory At Brushcreek Motorsports Park

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – PEEBLES, OH – Forced to settle with a hard charging performance at Wayne County Speedway after getting involved in a tangle during his respective heat race, ultimately rallying from 21st to sixth in 30 green flag laps, Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson bounced back on Wednesday night at Brushcreek Motorsports Park and leveled the field during night five of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires, eventually leading 26 laps to claim a 14th-career Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory worth $5,000.

Lining up sixth on the main event grid, it was apparent from the start that Larson’s pace was unrivaled, utilizing his initial jump to climb three spots before crossing by the flagstand for the first time. By lap three, ‘Yung Money’ was powering by Eliason for second, next setting his aim on Vienna, West Virginia’s Cale Conley. Just two circuits later, Larson was in command, sneaking under Conley’s No. 3C as the pair raced through turns one and two.

From that point forward, it was all Kyle Larson at the top of the charts, easily navigating through traffic before escaping to a near-five second advantage at the end of 30 non-stop laps.

“I watched a little bit of video, but that was it,” said first-time Brushcreek competitor, Kyle Larson, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/Durst/Lucas Oil/No. 57 sprint car. “It was a unique race track, for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever been on a track quite like it.

“My car was really good. I could run where everyone else wasn’t,” Larson continued. “All of the lapped cars were either on the bottom or the top, so I could stay relaxed knowing that I would have a lane open when I got to lapped cars. I started to get a little stressed late in the race. When you’re the leader, you never know where second and third place are. I knew (Reutzel) and (Abreu) would be there somewhere. There were some lappers that showed me their nose on the bottom. You just have to focus on what’s ahead and keep moving forward.”

Rico Abreu made a late charge to finish second at Brushcreek Motorsports Park, followed by two-time and defending All Star champion, Aaron Reutzel, Cale Conley, and polesitter, Cory Eliason. Abreu faded as far back as fifth before making the surge to second in the final two circuits.

What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue the second half of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires with a trip to Muskingum County Speedway in Dresden, Ohio, on Thursday evening, July 9.

Contingency Awards/Results: Brushcreek Motorsports Complex – July 8, 2020:
Event: Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires
Entries: 31
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Kyle Larson – 11.799
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 11.802
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Cole Duncan
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Cale Conley
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Rico Abreu
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Sye Lynch
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Cory Eliason
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Dash #2 Winner: Cale Conley
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Josh Baughman
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: RJ Jacobs
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Greg Wilson (+10)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.923; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 11.983; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.061; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 12.249; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.444; 6. 21-Brinton Marvel, 12.447; 7. G1-Justin Peck, 12.481; 8. 4-Danny Smith, 12.556

Group (B)
1. 5h-Jordan Harble, 12.282; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer, 12.321; 3. 3C-Cale Conley, 12.334; 4. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 12.528; 5. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 12.538; 6. 2-Nathan Skaggs, 12.675; 7. 40i-Mark Imler, 13.297; 8. 22D-Josh Davis, 99.160

Group (C)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 11.802; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.022; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.041; 4. 17-Josh Baughman, 12.163; 5. 11-Zeb Wise, 12.174; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.197; 7. 97-Max Stambaugh, 12.444; 8. 6-Frank Rodgers, 14.141

Group (D)
1. 99-Skylar Gee, 12.289; 2. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 12.438; 3. 70-Sye Lynch, 12.511; 4. 59-Bryan Nuckles, 12.616; 5. 19R-Jordan Ryan, 12.628; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.682; 7. 1B-Keith Baxter, 13.168

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 3. O7-Gerard McIntyre [1]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 4-Danny Smith [8]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 7. 21-Brinton Marvel [6]; 8. G1-Justin Peck [7]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3C-Cale Conley [2]; 2. A79-Brandon Wimmer [1]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 5H-Jordan Harble [4]; 5. 2-Nathan Skaggs [6]; 6. 18J-RJ Jacobs [5]; 7. 40I-Mark Imler [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [5]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 6. 97-Max Stambaugh [7]; 7. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 8. 6-Frank Rodgers [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 70-Sye Lynch [2]; 2. 15K-Chad Kemenah [3]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 5. 59-Bryan Nuckles [1]; 6. 19R-Jordan Ryan [5]; 7. 1B-Keith Baxter [7]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 5. 5H-Jordan Harble [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 3C-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 4. 70-Sye Lynch [2]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 3. 97-Max Stambaugh [2]; 4. 21-Brinton Marvel [6]; 5. 18J-RJ Jacobs [4]; 6. 1B-Keith Baxter [7]; 7. 19R-Jordan Ryan [5]; 8. 6-Frank Rodgers [10]; 9. 40I-Mark Imler [8]; 10. G1-Justin Peck [9]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [7]; 4. 3C-Cale Conley [2]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 8. 15K-Chad Kemenah [11]; 9. 11-Zeb Wise [13]; 10. 22C-Cole Duncan [10]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [16]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 13. 70-Sye Lynch [8]; 14. 28-Tim Shaffer [15]; 15. 5H-Jordan Harble [9]; 16. A79-Brandon Wimmer [12]; 17. 35-Stuart Brubaker [17]; 18. O7-Gerard McIntyre [14]; 19. 21-Brinton Marvel [24]; 20. 17-Josh Baughman [21]; 21. 2-Nathan Skaggs [20]; 22. 59-Bryan Nuckles [19]; 23. 4-Danny Smith [18]; 24. 97-Max Stambaugh [23] Lap Leaders: Cale Conley (1-4), Kyle Larson (5-30)