Not too long ago many questioned Kyle Larson’s chances at the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s. But in one short week, every trace of doubt has been erased, and he stands likely as the favorite.
A big week at Eldora Speedway served up struggles for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. It started with a strong runner-up, but then he closed out the week with a 13th during the Knight Before and missing the Kings Royal main event.
And then it all began to turn around at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Larson opened Ironman weekend with an unforgettable drive from 21st to victory. Then he topped his third Ironman 55 the following night by charging from 12th. The stage then moved to Southern Iowa Speedway (Oskaloosa, IA) on Monday, and “Yung Money” rolled from 13th to Victory Lane.
Knoxville Raceway then welcomed the Sprint Car world for “The Granddaddy of ‘Em All” this week. And Larson delivered yet another statement on Thursday during Toyota Qualifying Night.
Larson lined up sixth for the 25-lapper and put on another show in the Silva Motorsports No. 57. He methodically picked his way forward, passing some strong cars in the process. The Elk Grove, CA native punctuated his rise to the top of the leaderboard with a slider on Rico Abreu with only two laps remaining. Four straight wins for Larson with a combined 49 Sprint Cars passed. The Knoxville triumph was his 10th overall at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World.”
And just like that, Larson looks like the clear-cut favorite for Saturday as he aims to go back-to-back on the sport’s biggest stage. His performance earned him 490 points, enough to put him on the pole for the 50-lap finale.
“Rico was doing a good job as the leader and doing a good job through traffic,” Larson recalled. “And Carson (Macedo) got kind of rolling there for a minute and thankfully I was able to get by him. I didn’t know exactly what to do. I felt like if you could hit the bottom, it was the best place to be, and I think Rico knew that as well. But then he got to that lapper and couldn’t follow him, had to go to the top or middle. And that lapper just hit the berm in front of me, gave me a bunch of clean air and probably messed him up. So, right place at the right time, but you always have to execute every lap. We were able to put ourselves in position to get another win. It feels really good. The car felt great during the Feature.”
Bill Balog and Abreu led the Feature to green, and it was Balog inching ahead to lead the opening lap.
Throughout the opening half of the race, the action remained relatively tame up front. Balog made some daring moves in traffic to stay ahead of Abreu, but the action really warmed up beyond the halfway mark.
Abreu made his move with a slider on Balog on Lap 12. The battle between the two allowed third-running Carson Macedo to close in. Right after Abreu stole the lead, Macedo ripped by Balog to secure the runner-up spot.
It wasn’t much longer before Larson followed the footsteps of the two Californians up front and went by “The North Pole Nightmare” for third. Up ahead Abreu got trapped behind a lapped car allowing Macedo to look low down the back straightaway, but the No. 24 closed the door on the No. 41.
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