Antioch, CA. April 3, 2010. What started out as a very good night for Kyle Larson during preliminary events took an abrupt turn for the worse early in the feature event at Antioch Speedway as the Golden State Challenge Series 410 sprint cars invaded the Sacramento River delta facility Saturday night. Larson, who had been putting pressure on leader Jonathan Allard as they raced through backmarkers over the first six laps, saw his night end suddenly when one of the lapped cars spun directly into his path, with major car damage resulting for the 17 year old driver from Elk Grove, California.
In an early sign of things to come Larson held fast time until Allard came out late to displace the Stadelhofer Construction/PeppermillResort SpaCasino~Reno/Maxim/Shaver from the top slot. Both transferred to the eight car dash, with Allard finishing fourth and Larson third in their respective heats.
Allard drew the pole for the dash while Larson ended up with the sixth position on the grid. Allard got the jump on outside front row starter Willie Croft, while Larson looked spectacular as he quickly advanced his way forward into second by lap two. As Allard led to the finish Larson sealed the runnerup spot to set up a front row showdown for the pair in the 30 lap A-main.
At the drop of the green flag Allard powered out of turn four to grab the lead. However, it was very apparent that Larson had a fast race car, especially in turns one and two. Allard was able to gain ground out of turn four each lap but Larson would close nearly to his bumper with his high line coming off turn two.
As the duo remained together while they began to negotiate traffic the race looked to be turning into a classic battle of the wily veteran pairing off against the up and comer. Allard briefly got a little breathing room when he narrowly split a couple of slower cars in a breathtaking move to begin lap seven, while Larson patiently picked each off the first car very quickly in turn one.
As Larson raced down the backstretch first time 410 winged driver Danielle Simpson spun in turn three. As she slid backwards up the track Larson’s daylight to squeeze between her and the fence shut and he was sent skyward into the plywood catch fencing, taking several boards down in the process.
With his car suffering major damage to the front axle and frame, rear end, and top wing Larson was trailered for the duration of the feature. Allard raced on unchallenged to score his second consecutive GSC main event win, topping Evan Suggs and Brent Kaeding.
While extremely disappointed with the turn of events Larson was also understanding of his predicament when he said, “I’m really bummed right now, but I know she didn’t mean to do it. Not very long ago I was a rookie too, and my first night was pretty disastrous in kind of the same way. So I know the feeling. But man, we had an awesome car tonight and I know I had something for Jonathan. A couple of times I would run up off turn two and I would have to back off to not hit him. A lot of people were having a bunch of trouble getting through one and two all night but my crew Clark Riolo, Matt Britt, Nick Wilke and Jeff Delte had my car feeling like it was floating thru that area all night long. We’ll just regroup and head to my favorite track, Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway, and see if we can get us a win there next week.”
Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by Stadelhofer Construction, The PeppermillResortSpaCasinoReno, Kaeding Performance, Safety Solutions-LFT Technologies, Simpson Performance Products, JW Web Design and Steve’s Racing Photos.
Check out www.kylelarsonracing.com for current news and information.
Race Date: April 4, 2010
Photos Courtesy of Steve LaMothe
www.stevesracingphotos.com
- Kyle Larson Racing on Apr 03, 2010
- Article Date: 4/3/2010