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Larson’s Charge Forward Ends Early
Marysville, CA – June 2, 2007 – Marysville Raceway Park held their annual Mel Hall Memorial race and 14 year old sprint car driver Kyle Larson made his second appearance in as many weeks at the newly revamped oval. While the night was full of ups and downs, the youngster was able to showcase his growing abilities in a sprint car with an impressive run in the early goings of the feature race that honored the memory of the former race driver and track promoter.
Larson qualified the Dave and Debbie Vertullo ParkerStore/CRV Racing Products/Eagle Kistler sixth of the 24 cars pitted. He lined up fifth in the third heat but disaster struck in turn one as fourth starting Claudia Hughes, racing a sprint car for the first time in a long while, spun in turn one and collected three other cars, including Larson’s. Significant damage was incurred as the torque tube was bent along with all right side rear suspension components. Luckily for Larson the B-main was scrapped due to attrition in the heat races. The turn of events allowed his team to complete repairs and Larson assumed the 22nd and final starting position in the A-main. As the green appeared Larson was on the move and had raced all the way to tenth when the yellow appeared at the end of lap two. He picked off three more places in the next few laps, but it all came to an end on lap eight. At that point Larson allowed his car to half spin in turn two while attempting an outside pass of Mark Tabor, Jr. Front end contact with a passing car resulted in a bent front axle and right front wheel, necessitating a tow back to the pits. The premature ending to the impressive charge saw the high school freshman scored 19th at the finish as Colby Weisz took the win.
Questioned at the end of the night Larson said, “Boy, this was both really fun and really disappointing tonight. After qualifying sixth, things were looking good for getting a front row starting spot in the feature. All I had to do was finish in the top five in my heat and I would have been there. But I couldn’t avoid the first turn wreck and, at that point, it was a thrash just to try to get the car ready for the B-main. When they cancelled the B it gave us some extra time to get ready for the A-main. Starting 22nd I was just hoping to stay out of trouble. I got a good run going on the bottom of the track and was able to pass a lot of cars over the first couple of laps. By the time I got up to Mark Tabor, Jr., I knew I was going to have to use the top to get around him. Up to then my car felt so good, but I just got on the gas a little too early after making the pass, and it bit me. That was really a bummer to be out of the race because I was having so much fun. When you have a car that fast and have a lot of laps left, you start thinking anything could be possible. But I’ll learn from this and next time the result will be better.”
Larson’s racing efforts are sponsored by ParkerStore, CRV Racing Products, Starr Real Estate and Property Management, Safety Solutions – LFT Technologies, D & J Towing, Heritage Drywall, A.R.T. Speed Equipment, RPM Indoor Kart Racing and Conference Center, Platinum Powdercoating, JW Web Design, MotoWear, Wion’s Body Shop, SWEPCO Lubricants and Sierra Tire and Wheel.
Race: June 2, 2007
Photos Courtesy of Jack Waterman
Check out www.kylelarsonracing.com for photos, video clip and updates
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