Kyle Larson defeats All Stars and Posse for Tommy Hinnershitz Classic victory

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (July 17, 2020) – Forced to track down one of Pennsylvania’s finest, Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson continued his open wheel winning ways on Friday night during a visit to the world-famous Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, this time claiming the annual Tommy Hinnershitz Classic for a $5,000 payday over a stacked field of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1, World of Outlaws and Pennsylvania Posse competitors.

Larson’s route to Williams Grove Speedway victory lane did not come easy, as the now eight-time Series winner in 2020 did not take command for the first time until lap 27, ultimately using lapped traffic within the final five circuits to hunt down race-long leader Anthony Macri before driving around the familiar No. 39M between turns three and four on lap 27. Certainly no stranger to the Williams Grove half-mile, Larson put himself in striking distance on lap 22, utilizing momentum and a diving move across the bottom of turn three to take second away from Kerry Madsen.

Macri, who led from the drop of the green before losing command to Larson, held on to finish second in the Tommy Hinnershitz Classic main event, followed by Kerry Madsen, David Gravel and Daryn Pittman.

“This is pretty cool. Anytime you can win over a field like this is pretty special, especially at Williams Grove Speedway,” Kyle Larson said, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Finley Farms/Tarlton and Sons/Durst/Lucas Oil/No. 57 sprint car. “I thought we were pretty good all night. Once we got to halfway, I knew it was time to pick it up a little bit if we wanted to be there at the end. I was able to carry a lot of speed through the corners and that really helped us out, even when we got into some traffic. Paul Silva does a pretty awesome job getting these cars to drive to well. Hopefully we can keep this going.”

Before Larson made his presence known, Macri was forced to deal with Kerry Madsen. Madsen, aboard the Killer Instinct Crossbows No. 2M, got away second after the initial start and maintained a steady distance from Macri until the frontrunners found traffic for the first time on lap eight. Forced to check up and lose momentum, Madsen took advantage and gained ground on Macri, eventually racing himself to a car length by the completion of lap nine.

Even after a caution on lap 16, which allowed Macri to restart with a clear track and clean air ahead, Madsen kept himself in contention, actually trying to slide Macri on lap 17, and again on lap 19. Although both attempts failed, the slider exchanges allowed Larson to enter the picture by lap 22.

With eight Series victories thus far in 2020, Kyle Larson is now on top of the wins leaderboard. Two-time and defending All Star champion, Aaron Reutzel, is second with seven.

What’s Next:
Tony Stewart’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue their trek through the Keystone State with a doubleheader at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania, on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19. Dubbed the Bob Weikert Memorial, the two-day program will award back-to-back $10,000 top prizes with a $5,000 bonus to the overall weekend champion; the driver with the highest average finish, but one of the two finishes must be a victory. For more information, please visit Port Royal Speedway online at www.portroyalspeedway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Williams Grove Speedway – July 17, 2020:Event: Tommy Hinnershitz Classic
Entries: 39
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Brock Zearfoss – 17.279Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson – 16.950Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Brent MarksAll Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Sammy SwindellHunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Aaron ReutzelMobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Carson MacedoKear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Anthony MacriElliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Dash #2 Winner: Kerry MadsenClassic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Lucas Wolfe
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Matt CampbellOllie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Kyle LarsonHercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Danny Dietrich (+9)

Qualifying
Group (A)

1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 17.051; 2. 17h-Sheldon Haudenschild, 17.120; 3. 1X-Chad Trout, 17.295; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 17.353; 5. 39-Jason Solwold, 17.517; 6. 5-Brent Marks, 17.590; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 17.724; 8. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 17.783; 9. 35s-Jason Shultz, 18.011; 10. 99-Skylar Gee, 18.194

Group (B)

1. 41-David Gravel, 16.963; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 17.176; 3. 39s-Sammy Swindell, 17.187; 4. 83-Daryn Pittman, 17.206; 5. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 17.344; 6. 35-Zach Hampton, 17.402; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich, 17.478; 8. 1w-Matt Campbell, 17.515; 9. 72-Ryan Smith, 17.789; 10. 12-Brent Shearer, 18.076

Group (C)

1. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.950; 2. 21-Brian Montieth, 17.388; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.404; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 17.461; 5. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 17.499; 6. 17-Josh Baughman, 17.547; 7. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 17.646; 8. 55K-Robbie Kendall, 17.667; 9. 27S-Adrian Shaffer, 18.105; 10. W20-Greg Wilson, 18.231

Group (D)

1. 39M-Anthony Macri, 17.177; 2. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 17.260; 3. 11T-TJ Stutts, 17.270; 4. 2-Carson Macedo, 17.336; 5. 11-Zeb Wise, 17.503; 6. 13-Paul McMahan, 17.699; 7. 73B-Brett Michalski, 18.025; 8. 19m-Landon Myers, 18.084; 9. 12w-Troy Fraker, 18.865

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 5-Brent Marks [6]; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [1]; 3. 1X-Chad Trout [2]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 5. 39-Jason Solwold [5]; 6. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [10]; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre [7]; 9. 35S-Jason Shultz [9]; 10. 2C-Wayne Johnson [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 39S-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 83-Daryn Pittman [1]; 3. 41-David Gravel [4]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [7]; 6. 24-Lucas Wolfe [5]; 7. 72-Ryan Smith [9]; 8. 1W-Matt Campbell [8]; 9. 12-Brent Shearer [10]; 10. 35-Zach Hampton [6]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 21-Brian Montieth [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 14-Parker Price-Miller [5]; 6. 17-Josh Baughman [6]; 7. 27S-Adrian Shaffer [9]; 8. 55K-Robbie Kendall [8]; 9. 3-Jac Haudenschild [7]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 2-Carson Macedo [1]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 3. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 4. 11T-TJ Stutts [2]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 6. 11-Zeb Wise [5]; 7. 19M-Landon Myers [8]; 8. 73B-Brett Michalski [7]; 9. 12W-Troy Fraker [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

1. 39M-Anthony Macri [1]; 2. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 5. 5-Brent Marks [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 39S-Sammy Swindell [2]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 4. 41-David Gravel [3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

1. 24-Lucas Wolfe [2]; 2. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [3]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [13]; 5. 1W-Matt Campbell [9]; 6. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 7. 27S-Adrian Shaffer [7]; 8. 19M-Landon Myers [6]; 9. O7-Gerard McIntyre [11]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 11. 73B-Brett Michalski [12]; 12. 2C-Wayne Johnson [18]; 13. 12-Brent Shearer [15]; 14. 12W-Troy Fraker [16]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 16. 35-Zach Hampton [17]; 17. 72-Ryan Smith [5]; 18. 55K-Robbie Kendall [10]; 19. 35S-Jason Shultz [14]

A-Main (30 Laps)

1. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [1]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 4. 41-David Gravel [7]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [16]; 8. 2-Carson Macedo [3]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel [9]; 10. 51-Freddie Rahmer [12]; 11. 5-Brent Marks [8]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 13. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild [21]; 14. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [10]; 15. 11T-TJ Stutts [15]; 16. 13-Paul McMahan [19]; 17. 21-Brian Montieth [14]; 18. 14-Parker Price-Miller [17]; 19. 24-Lucas Wolfe [20]; 20. 39-Jason Solwold [18]; 21. 1X-Chad Trout [13]; 22. 1W-Matt Campbell [25]; 23. 11-Zeb Wise [22]; 24. 99-Skylar Gee [24]; 25. 17-Josh Baughman [26]; 26. 3-Jac Haudenschild [23]; 27. 39S-Sammy Swindell [27]

Lap Leaders: Anthony Macri (1-26), Kyle Larson (27-30)

2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of July 17, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 3286
2. Cory Eliason – 3144
3. Paul McMahan – 3042
4. Zeb Wise – 3010
5. Skylar Gee – 2830
6. Josh Baughman – 2820
7. Greg Wilson – 2800
8. Brock Zearfoss – 2154
9. Danny Dietrich – 2090
10. Kyle Larson – 1802

Photo Credit: Chad Warner

Contact: Tyler Altmeyer