(Chico, CA) ………. The 2018 Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase presented by BRANDT is in the books and it saw none other than the very name in the title, Kyle Larson, score the $6,000 victory. The win is Larson’s first in this event and his 77th Overall at the Cycleland Speedway in his Career. It was a great night of racing all around and the crowd on hand and watching back at home were treated to a great show.
The Feature Event saw Kyle Larson line up on the Pole Position after picking up the victory in the David Tarter/Tyler Wolf Memorial Dash for Cash earlier in the night. To his outside was the #83 kart of Tyler McCain. McCain set Fast Time on Monday night and set himself up nicely for the start of the 40 Lap Main Event. At the drop of the green flag though it was Larson who would jump out to the race lead. He was able to work the outside of the racetrack to perfection. He never bobbled, never once looked uncomfortable and never gave up the race lead. Multiple yellow flags would halt the progress of the race throughout the early stages. At the halfway point, the Red Flag would be displayed for the scheduled fuel stop. At that point only 13 of the 22 starters were still on the racetrack. When the green flag flew with 20 laps remaining it was the same story as early in the race. The BRANDT #1K of Kyle Larson would drive away to about a two second advantage and maintain that lead for the entirety of the race. The best battle of the night was for second through fifth as those drivers raced at times four-wide through the corners. It was spectacular to witness such tight quarters racing near the front of the field. In the end Jesse Colwell would come out as the runner up in the second position. Colwell had a solid week in his DURST, Factory QRC #86J entry. Casey Schmitz piloted his Ed Brown Trucking #35 entry to a third-place finish, besting his best OKS effort of 8th last year. Chase Majdic did some hard charging in the Mittry Construction #42X. Majdic had to go to the rear of the field after the fuel stop on Lap 20 for working on the kart after the horn had sounded. He quickly charged back towards the front of the field and found himself racing for a position in the top five. When the dust settled he would cross the finish line in the fourth position. Ryan Foster had an interesting week as he began the weekend in the #21X kart, but when a Monday night crash put Tyler Seavey on the sidelines for Tuesday’s Main Event Foster was tabbed to pilot the Amber Norman Racing #91 kart. That put him into the Main Event and he would make the best of a good opportunity finishing in the fifth position at the conclusion of the 40 Lap event.
The Box Stock class saw great competition throughout the entire 20 Lap race. We saw multiple front runners have issues and have to drop to the rear of the field only to charge back through to the top five again. In the end though it would be the eight-year-old from Kerman, CA Eric Botelho getting the big victory. The win for Botelho is his eighth of the season at the Cycleland Speedway. The very excited young driver couldn’t get out of the kart quick enough as he was so excited to celebrate in front of the packed Cycleland Speedway crowd. Visalia, CA driver Jett Barnes would finish in the second position in his Dirt Co. Media House #55 kart. Keegan Bounds started 20th in his Rocket Designs #1K kart. The youngster from Springfield, OR would charge through the field to finish in the third position. The #5 kart of Aiden Larimer had a consistent weekend as he piloted his Cornaggia Farms #5 to a fourth-place finish. The top five would be concluded with the #10 of Jennifer Osborne from Geyserville, CA.
The 250 Intermediate Main Event was the Dominic Gorden show as he led all 25 Laps to score the biggest victory of his young career in the Amber Norman Racing, Johnston Enterprises #52Y kart. Gorden, who is a Rookie driver in Outlaw Karts has developed extremely quickly to the karts and now has five Main Event wins to his credit this season. His Crew Chief/Driver Coach is none other than legendary Outlaw Kart superstar “Pistol” Pete Johnston. That pairing has proved that they can be unstoppable when they are in the groove. Fresno, CA driver Mariah Ede brought home a second-place finish in the M&L Plumbing #4 kart. Mariah was the highest finishing female driver of the week at the Outlaw Kart Showcase. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for this up and coming talent. Current Cycleland Speedway Intermediate Points Leader Trace Adams had a solid performance this week. The driver from Cottonwood, CA would finish in the third position in his #3 kart. The #24P of Tanner Pettit was impressive this week. We haven’t seen much of Pettit this year but when we have he has been extremely fast. He proved that once again on Tuesday night with a fourth-place effort in the Main Event. The drive of the night though went to a young driver from Tucson, AZ. The #21J of Jaidan Curfman-Levy started the Intermediate Main Event dead last (24th) and he charged toward the front of the field to finish in the fifth position. He picked up 19 positions from where he started making him far and away the Hard Charger of the Intermediate Class.
Preliminary action early in the night saw the #151 of Duke Johnson, #22S of Daniel Becker, #2X of Max Mittry and #68B of Jojo Owens all score wins in their Last Chance Qualifier Races putting them into the C-Main. The C-Main was claimed by the #95 of Josh Wooten. He and the next five finishers all transferred to the back of the B-Main Event. The B-Main Event was claimed by Redding, CA driver Kris Renaud in the Jason Justeson Farms #16 kart. Renaud would qualify for the Main Event with that performance. Also joining Renaud in the Main Event out of the B-Main were Holly Shelton, Jake Park, Evan Burrola, Dawson Hammes, and Kaiden Butler. Evan Burrola was the youngest driver to lock into the 40 Lap Main Event at just 12 years of age, he would go on to finish in the 16th position.
The Box Stock B-Main Event was won by the WKD Electric #229 of Logan Pike. That put him into the Main Event where he would go on to finish in the 18th position. The 250 Intermediate B-Main Event saw former Outlaw Kart Showcase Box Stock Winner Trevor Grimes score the victory putting him in the Main Event. He would go on to finish in the 11th position in the A-Main Event.
We would like to thank everyone once again for being a part of the 2018 Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase presented by BRANDT. This event is always a can’t miss event and we are already looking forward to next year’s event.
Official partners of Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase presented by BRANDT include: BRANDT, ENEOS, DC Solar, Abreu Vineyards, Bianchi Farms, NASCAR, SunTrust Sports and Entertainment, QRC Factory Karts, Swimming Pool Perfections, Red Bluff Yamaha, Priority Aviation, iRacing, Bundy Built Motorsports, Ron Gorby’s Howard Johnson Lima, Ohio, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sonoma Raceway, Sacramento Kings, Elk Grove Ford, All Star Performance, Oakley, Oxford Suites of Chico, Howard Tarter for the David Tarter Memorial, Chuck Wolf Sand and Gravel for the Tyler Wolf Memorial, Chico Truck and RV, Finley Farms, Probilt Construction, Straight Up Performance, Northstar Concrete Pumping, Garth Moore Insurance and Financial Services, Kaeding Performance, Kevin Sharrah Designs, Roseville Precision, AIC Amerikote Coatings, Fast Four Media, College Cyclery, MANCAMP Motorsports, Tillack Enterprises, Lary’s Good Time Garage, and MAJ1K Motorsports.
For results and more information about Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase presented by BRANDT, please visit www.outlawkartshowcase.com, like facebook.com/OutlawKartShowcase and follow @RaceTheShowcase on Twitter.