Larson climbs from eighth to win Ohio Sprint Speedweek round three

Kyle Larson climbs from eighth to win Ohio Sprint Speedweek round three at Wayne County Speedway

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR SERIES MEDIA

Photos By: PAUL ARCH / RACERSGUIDE.COM

ORRVILLE, OH -June 20, 2017 – Less than a week after earning his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory of the 2017 season, and just 24 hours after earning his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2017 season, Kyle Larson was victorious with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, this time claiming round three of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket on Monday, June 19, at Wayne County Speedway.

Larson, who started eighth on the main event grid, took command officially on lap 13 over Vienna, West Virginia’s Cale Conley. It was a fifth career victory for Larson during Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions competition, his second at Wayne County Speedway. Interestingly enough, all five Arctic Cat All Star victories during Larson’s career have taken shape during Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket.

“I was a little nervous during our dash tonight, but we were able to gain a few positions and increase our starting position by a few rows,” Larson explained in victory lane, pilot of the Finley Farms/Howard Johnson of Lima/No. 57. “I just tried to be patient the whole race. I knew we had a really good car.”

Larson’s march to the front started right from the drop of the green flag, appearing inside the top-five as early as lap six. A series of cautions, one for early race leader Brad Haudenschild, kept the feature field stacked together on three separate occasions during the first six circuits.

Unfortunately for all of those in attendance, one pause in action was caused by a power outage. The track lighting would soon reappear.

By lap nine, Larson moved his way into third, eventually setting up a pass to take second on lap 11, soon followed by the winning move on lap 13; driving under Cale Conley at the entrance of turn three and having full command by the exit of turn four. From that point forward, Larson was flawless, even surviving one final caution with less than two circuits remaining. Tim Shaffer and Caleb Helms, who were each battling for second and third in the running order, made contact just before the flagstand on lap 29. Their misfortune allowed Kasey Kahne and Chad Kemenah to solidify themselves on the podium.

“I got to traffic and I started to worry a little bit,” Kyle Larson explained. “I thought I saw the guys racing behind me creep up on my inside a little bit. I saw a ‘4’ and ‘10’ on the scoreboard and I thought Kasey [Kahne] and Chad [Kemenah] both started pretty far back, so I knew they had to be pretty good. Luckily, we hung on those last few laps and got the win.”

With two, full nights in the books, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket competition on Tuesday evening with an appearance at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. It will be the first of two visits by the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions at the state-of-the-art venue, with the second awarding $10,000 on Saturday, July 8, during the annual Lou Blaney Memorial.

Sharon Speedway will open pit gates at 4:00pm tomorrow – Tuesday, June 20 – with hot laps to follow at 6:20pm. Those seeking additional news and notes should visit Sharon Speedway live on the Web at www.sharonspeedway.com. Those who cannot attend will have the opportunity to watch online via www.thecushion.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Wayne County Speedway – Monday, June 19, 2017:
Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 57 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Tim Shaffer – 14.335 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Caleb Helms – 14.096 seconds (Under Track Record)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Kyle Larson
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Carson Macedo
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Rob Chaney
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Brad Haudenschild
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5: Cale Conley
Computer Man D-Main: Steve Butler
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-Main: Jordan Harble
JE Pistons Dash #1: Brad Haudenschild
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Cale Conley
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Andrew Palker
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Cole Duncan (+15)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Rob Chaney
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Broc Martin
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.823; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker, 14.047; 3. 17-Caleb Helms, 14.096; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 14.144; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison, 14.186; 6. 8-Dean Jacobs, 14.276; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.414; 8. 27Z-Sean Zemunik, 14.473; 9. 39-Spencer Bayston, 14.567; 10. 33D-Tyler Dunn, 14.815; 11. 46-Michael Bauer, 15.11; 12. 33-Brent Matus, 15.686

Group (B)
1. 97-Broc Martin, 14.289; 2. 35-Tyler Esh, 14.333; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo, 14.385; 4. 12-Daniel Harding, 14.442; 5. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.541; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs, 14.619; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 14.639; 8. 16-Danny Mumaw, 14.823; 9. 15H-Mitch Harble, 14.826; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell, 14.897; 11. 9M-Jordan Ryan, 15.02; 12. 51-John Garvin, 15.324

Group ( C )
1. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 14.119; 2. 4T-Kasey Kahne, 14.506; 3. 45-Trevor Baker, 14.52; 4. 83-Rob Chaney, 14.521; 5. 59-Ryan Smith, 14.533; 6. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.538; 7. 13D-Danny Dietrich, 14.565; 8. 5-Jordan Harble, 14.642; 9. 4-Danny Smith, 14.856; 10. 4B-Steve Butler, 15.215; 11. 1B-Aaron Middaugh, 15.789

Group (D)
1. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.494; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.691; 3. 38K-Brad Haudenschild, 14.699; 4. 23-DJ Foos, 14.787; 5. 5R-Byron Reed, 14.799; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich, 14.86; 7. 98-Carl Bowser, 14.935; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 15.012; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson, 15.112; 10. 23P-Nick Patterson, 15.172; 11. 9-Ryan Linder, 15.918

Group (E)
1. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.545; 2. 7K-Cale Conley, 14.829; 3. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 15.062; 4. 71m-Dave Blaney, 15.071; 5. 7J-Joe Swanson, 15.129; 6. 91-Cale Thomas, 15.289; 7. D12-Jason Dolick, 15.381; 8. 97W-Mitchell Wormall, 15.409; 9. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.466; 10. 4K-Kris Davis, 16.526; 11. 92A-Sammy Walsh, 99

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [7]; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker [3]; 6. 39-Spencer Bayston [9]; 7. 8-Dean Jacobs [6]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]; 9. 46-Michael Bauer [11]; 10. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [8]; 11. 33D-Tyler Dunn [10]; 12. 33-Brent Matus [12]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 97-Broc Martin [4]; 3. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 4. 16-Danny Mumaw [8]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 6. 33M-Max Stambaugh [7]; 7. 15H-Mitch Harble [9]; 8. 9M-Jordan Ryan [11]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [10]; 10. 12-Daniel Harding [1]; 11. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]; 12. 51-John Garvin [12]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 83-Rob Chaney [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 3. 4T-Kasey Kahne [3]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 5. 45-Trevor Baker [2]; 6. 59-Ryan Smith [5]; 7. 13D-Danny Dietrich [7]; 8. 5-Jordan Harble [8]; 9. 4B-Steve Butler [10]; 10. 1B-Aaron Middaugh [11]; 11. 4-Danny Smith [9]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 38K-Brad Haudenschild [2]; 2. 23-DJ Foos [1]; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed [5]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 6. 98-Carl Bowser [7]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich [6]; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson [9]; 9. 9-Ryan Linder [11]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 11. 23P-Nick Patterson [10]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 2. 71M-Dave Blaney [1]; 3. 7J-Joe Swanson [5]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus [9]; 5. 97W-Mitchell Wormall [8]; 6. 4K-Kris Davis [10]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [4]; 8. 92A-Sammy Walsh [11]; 9. 91-Cale Thomas [6]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 38K-Brad Haudenschild [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 4. 97-Broc Martin [4]; 5. 83-Rob Chaney [5]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [6]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 7K-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 23-DJ Foos [3]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 5. 2-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 6. 71M-Dave Blaney [5]

D-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 4B-Steve Butler [1]; 2. D12-Jason Dolick [4]; 3. 97W-Mitchell Wormall [5]; 4. 51-John Garvin [3]; 5. 9-Ryan Linder [8]; 6. 4K-Kris Davis [9]; 7. 1B-Aaron Middaugh [7]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [6]; 9. 91-Cale Thomas [2]; 10. 92A-Sammy Walsh [10]; 11. 5T-Travis Philo [11]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 5-Jordan Harble [1]; 2. 33D-Tyler Dunn [2]; 3. 5K-Adam Kekich [5]; 4. 15H-Mitch Harble [3]; 5. 98-Carl Bowser [7]; 6. 4B-Steve Butler [13]; 7. 46-Michael Bauer [10]; 8. 23P-Nick Patterson [12]; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson [11]; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell [6]; 11. D12-Jason Dolick [14]; 12. 4-Danny Smith [4]; 13. 9M-Jordan Ryan [8]; 14. 1080-Jordan Mackison [9]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 57X-Andrew Palker [1]; 2. 8-Dean Jacobs [3]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]; 4. 59-Ryan Smith [8]; 5. 33M-Max Stambaugh [13]; 6. 13D-Danny Dietrich [10]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [14]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [2]; 9. 33D-Tyler Dunn [16]; 10. 12-Daniel Harding [4]; 11. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [5]; 12. 5-Jordan Harble [15]; 13. 45-Trevor Baker [7]; 14. 8M-TJ Michael [9]; 15. 39-Spencer Bayston [11]; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs [12]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [8]; 2. 4T-Kasey Kahne [13]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [16]; 4. 23-DJ Foos [6]; 5. 83-Rob Chaney [9]; 6. 3G-Carson Macedo [5]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed [18]; 8. 22C-Cole Duncan [23]; 9. 59-Ryan Smith [24]; 10. 97-Broc Martin [7]; 11. 35-Tyler Esh [11]; 12. 8M-TJ Michael [26]; 13. 33M-Max Stambaugh [25]; 14. 2-Parker Price-Miller [10]; 15. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 16. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 17. 16-Danny Mumaw [19]; 18. 24-Rico Abreu [17]; 19. 7K-Cale Conley [2]; 20. 7J-Joe Swanson [15]; 21. 57X-Andrew Palker [21]; 22. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [14]; 23. 13-Brandon Matus [20]; 24. 38K-Brad Haudenschild [1]; 25. 71M-Dave Blaney [12]; 26. 8-Dean Jacobs [22] Lap Leaders: Brad Haudenschild [1-3]; Cale Conley [4-12]; Kyle Larson [13-30]

Current Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket Point Standings (After June 19):
1. Chad Kemenah – 372
2. Tim Shaffer – 358
3. Ryan Smith – 358
4. Carson Macedo – 356
5. Parker Price-Miller – 354
6. Rico Abreu – 350
7. Cole Duncan – 348
8. Caleb Helms – 340
9. Tyler Esh – 326
10. Travis Philo – 324

Win Bonus Count presented by Cometic Gasket:
Tim Shaffer – 1 – Eldora Speedway
Kyle Larson – 1 – Wayne County Speedway

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (June 19, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah – 2584
2. Ryan Smith – 2360
3. Caleb Armstrong – 2330
4. Caleb Helms – 2322
5. Max Stambaugh – 2128
6. T.J. Michael – 2026
7. Brandon Spithaler – 1883
8. Brandon Matus – 1870
9. Tyler Esh – 1831
10. Tim Shaffer – 1806

About Cometic Gasket:
Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Cometic was founded in 1989 and has grown into a global leader and innovator in the highly competitive engine supplier marketplace. Housed in a 70,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing center in Concord, Ohio, Cometic Gasket is family owned and operated, offering over 90,000 SKUs, shipping gaskets and engine sealing solutions across the globe.

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.

About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.