With his series-leading 11th victory in the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws, Kyle Larson made some dirt racing history Friday night at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania.
The 25-lap feature victory was his 40th this season in 80 starts on dirt across sprint cars, midgets and even a Late Model (where he also won at Port Royal in August). His sprint car victories (including 23 Outlaws starts) mostly have come in the No. 57 owned and operated by Paul Silva.
“I would’ve liked to have gotten to 30 (wins); that was probably a more realistic goal,” Larson said in an Outlaws release. “But once we got racing … this is the most I’ve ever raced with Paul. We usually only do 25 to 30 shows. I think with us getting to race more together, days in a row, too, it helped us get into a rhythm. I think that’s why we had such a strong summer.”
Larson, who recently said he was motivated this year after being fired from his NASCAR ride to prove he had deserved to race in the Cup Series, started first Friday and led all 25 laps of the feature to beat Danny Dietrich. Sheldon Haudenschild finished third.
“I knew my car was good,” Larson said. “It always is. As the race went on, I started to slide more but got a good enough start on the restarts to maintain a decent gap. Awesome car again. Can’t say enough about everyone who works on it.”
In a rare appearance with his Outlaws team, three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart was 13th. The Outlaws return Saturday night to Port Royal.
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [1][$8,000]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [2][$4,000]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$2,500]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [6][$2,200]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4][$2,100]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [8][$2,000]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [5][$1,800]; 8. 41-David Gravel [7][$1,600]; 9. 51-Freddie Rahmer [20][$1,500]; 10. 2M-Kerry Madsen [10][$1,300]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [15][$1,200]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$1,100]; 13. 14S-Tony Stewart [9][$1,000]; 14. 9-James McFadden [11][$700]; 15. 5-Brent Marks [13][$600]; 16. 11-T.J. Stutts [19][$600]; 17. 10X-Ryan Smith [14][$600]; 18. 21-Brian Brown [17][$600]; 19. 72-Daryn Pittman [22][$600]; 20. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$600]; 21. 83-Spencer Bayston [25][$]; 22. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [24][$600]; 23. 2X-Dylan Cisney [26][$]; 24. 2-Carson Macedo [16][$600]; 25. 69K-Lance Dewease [12][$600]; 26. 55-Mike Wagner [23][$600]; Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 51-Freddie Rahmer[+11]
