(September 3rd, 2019)……….The 5th Annual Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase Presented by McDonald’s kicked off with a bang on Monday night at the Cycleland Speedway. In total, 151 karts signed into the pit area across the three divisions competing. The night would consist of Time Trials, Heat Races, and a special $1,000 to Win Open Main Event consisting of the top 20 fastest drivers in Qualifying.
The night started out with Time Trials for each division. In the Box Stock Class we saw 39 drivers take time, with one driver standing out in a big way. The #49 of Aiden Price out of Huntersville, North Carolina wheeled his Phantom Racing Chassis sponsored entry to Fast Time with a Lap Time of 12.211 seconds. The lap laid down by Price was more than a half second faster than the second place kart of Charlie Seavey. In the Intermediate Class, Bakersfield, CA driver Jett Yantis scored Fast Time with a Lap Time of 11.529 seconds around the speedway. Yantis was impressive in qualifying and would look to turn that into a successful night overall. In the Open Class, Time Trials were broken up into two groups in order to make it more fair for the drivers. With 77 karts taking time it was the Factory QRC, McDonald’s sponsored #1K of Kyle Larson taking Fast Time overall with a Lap Time of 11.500 seconds. Larson was in the final group of qualifying to hit the racetrack and was still able to lay down the quickest overall time.
Heat Race competition was up next as we would see the eight Open Heat Races hit the racetrack first. Heat Race #1 was dominated by Group A fastest qualifier Tyler Seavey in his Amber Norman Racing #91 entry. Heat Race #2 saw the #07H of Landon Brooks take the checkers. Brooks has shown exceptional speed and is now locked into Tuesday night’s Main Event. Heat Race #3 was claimed by the #1T of Tyler McCain in his Win River Casino entry. Heat Race #4 saw the Sal Calderon Racing #02 of Casey McClain score the victory. Kyle Larson picked up the win in Heat Race #5 after starting from the pole. He would win the 10 lap event by more than 3 seconds. Heat Race #6 was claimed by Ferndale, CA driver Daniel Whitley in kart #57. Whitley currently leads the Cycleland Speedway Track Championship points battle with just one race remaining in the season and is one of the favorites to contend for the win this week. Heat Race #7 saw the #42X of Chase Majdic dominate for the Victory, while the eighth and final Heat Race of the night for the Opens was claimed by the Darryl Fogarty Motorsports #6 of Ryan Foster.
In the Box Stock Heat Races we saw the #14 of Rowdy Gramps win Heat Race #1. Heat Race #2 was claimed by the #78 of Ryan Hirschbock. While the third and final Heat Race for the Box Stocks saw the #57VS of Jake Nuxoll charge to the front and get the win. In the 250 Intermediate Class we saw former Outlaw Kart Showcase winner Trevor Grimes get the win in Heat Race #1. The driver from Trail, OR is a former winner in the Box Stock Class during the Outlaw Kart Showcase and is hoping to do so again this time in the 250. Heat Race #2 was claimed by Minden, NV driver Evan Gularte in his #17M. The third and final Heat Race for the 250’s saw the Papa’s Beef Jerky #11R of Zachary Risch score the victory.
With Heat Race action completed, the lineups for all of Tuesday Night’s events were set. With some drivers locking into the Main Event for their respective class while others will have some work to do if they want to compete for the win.
The final event of the night, the 30 Lap Open Main Event would roll onto the racetrack with the field fully inverted, so the Fast Time qualifiers would start at the back of the field. Chris McKellar and Brandon LaChance would lead the field to the Green Flag. Early in the race the #4 of Mariah Ede was able to race her way to the front of the field. Mariah looked really strong out front in her SRT #4 machine. As the race wound on, there was one driver slicing and dicing his way to the front of the field. That driver was Kyle Larson in his #1K. After starting dead last on the field, he made quick work of the back half of the field. By the halfway point of the Main Event, Larson was running in the second position but was not catching the #4 of Ede. With a clear track in front of her it looked as though she was poised to earn her first career Open Main Event Win. Lapped traffic though, would allow the #1K of Larson to close in and make his move. Once in the lead it was his race to win as he went on to lead the final laps to score the $1,000 payday. Larson was followed across the line by the #9B of Brandon LaChance in second. Ren Eberhart had a great run in his #14 kart, finishing in the third position. Landon Brooks charged through the field in his #07H. Brooks spun early in the event and rebounded to a fourth place finish in his Busch Light sponsored machine. After leading much of the race, Mariah Ede had a late race incident cost her some positions but was still able to wheel her #4 kart to a fifth place finish.
We are back in action for the second and final night of the 2019 Kyle Larson’s Outlaw Kart Showcase Presented by McDonald’s tonight at the Cycleland Speedway. Action is set to get underway at 5:00PM with Hot Laps for all drivers with racing soon to follow. For more event information you can visit www.outlawkartshowcase.com. If you can’t make it to the racetrack but still want to catch the racing action, you can tune in to the Live Stream at www.fastfourmedia.com.
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