Kyle Larson scored his first Late Model win of 2022
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson turned in a dominating performance on Tuesday night in the season-opener for the Castrol FloRacing Night in America Series on an uncharacteristically rough Eldora Speedway to claim yet another win at the historic venue. Larson won one of last year’s two King’s Royal Sprint Car events at ‘The Big E’.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Elk Grove, California collected $22,022 in a race held on the Rossburg, Ohio track shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 49 cars were signed in for competition.
Group A Qualifying Results: 1. Kyle Larson(15.167), 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Ricky Thornton Jr., 5. Ashton Winger, 6. Spencer Hughes, 7. Daulton Wilson, 8. Brian Shirley
Group B Qualifying Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport(15.305), 2. Stormy Scott, 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Ross Robinson, 6. Frank Heckenast Jr., 7. Jeremy Shaw, 8. Kyle Strickler
Heat 1 Results: 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Spencer Hughes, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Max Blair
Heat 2 Results: 1. Brandon Overton, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Ashton Winger, 4. Daulton Wilson
Heat 3 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Mike Marlar, 3. Ross Robinson, 4. Tyler Erb
Heat 4 Results: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Stormy Scott, 3. Kyle Strickler, 4. Hudson O’Neal
B-main 1 Results: 1, Tyler Courtney, 2. Shannon Babb, 3. Zach Dohm
B-main 2 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Ryan Gustin, 3. Ryan Missler
Feature Re-cap: The feature had initially been slated for 50 laps but was shortened to 30 circuits due to track conditions.
When the green flag waved over the main event, Davenport lead the way ahead of Larson, Overton, Sheppard and Scott. The action was slowed after only one completed lap when Babb spun in turn two.
On the lap 1 restart, Overton moved to second behind Davenport and in front to Larson. However, Larson would retake that position on lap 3. Further back, mid-pack starting O’Neal charged to sixth and then to fifth.
Larson took the lead away from Davenport on lap 8 but Davenport fought back and worked to the inside of the NASCAR champion but Larson held the spot.
The second caution of the night came on lap 10 with Larson leading Davenport, Overton, Sheppard and O’Neal.
Strickler began to charge when he passed O’Neal for fifth on lap 12 then Overton third one lap later. Overton, O’Neal and Sheppard fought for positions 4-6 just passed the halfway point as Larson drove away from the pack.
Sheppard and Overton continued to battle for fourth after leaving O’Neal in their wake. Meanwhile, Larson pulled out to a two-second advantage over Davenport and Strickler. But the No. 6 car’s lead was erased with two laps remaining as a yellow flag waved for a flat tire on the third running car of Strickler.
Larson’s domination continued over the final two laps as he went on to claim the victory.
“I didn’t get a good restart,” Larson told FloRacing.com when asked about his move to take the lead from Davenport. “I chose the top, which I thought was good, I just got trapped in his dirty air going into one. I got tight and allowed Brandon(Overton) to get by but I got by him pretty easily off of four by diamonding across the holes.
“My car was just getting through the holes way better than it looked like anybody,” the winner added. “When I caught Davenport he was starting to bounce up the track and I could turn across and get some more smooth stuff off of two and was able to clear him there and get the lead.”
Feature Results: 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Ricky Thornton Jr., 6. Kyle Strickler, 7. Hudson O’Neal, 8. Ryan Gustin, 9. Tyler Courthney, 10. Tyler Erb, 11. Bobby Pierce, 12. Spencer Hughes, 13. Ross Robinson, 14. Stormy Scott, 15. Daulton Wilson, 16. Zach Dohm, 17. Max Blair, 18. Tim McCreadie, 19. Ashton Winger, 20. Shannon Babb, 21. Ryan Missler, 22. Mike Marlar
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