RIVER RUNNER: Kyle Larson Steals Win In River Cities Debut

Kyle Larson was sideways in the Turn 4 grass with four laps to go as Logan Schuchart ran away with the lead at River Cities Speedway Friday night.

Yet, he still managed to turn an unpredictable situation into a characteristically canny conclusion.

The Elk Grove, CA driver rallied in three laps to catch and strong arm his way past the Shark Racing #1S to claim his eighth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win in 2020 — making him the winningest driver, so far, this year in the Series.

“The Outlaws is as tough as it gets for Sprint Car racing throughout the world,” Larson said. “To come in here and be as strong as we have all year long and get a lot of wins, it’s been a lot of fun. We need to keep getting our stuff better, because everyone is chasing us and getting their stuff better each race.”

Friday’s event at the quarter-mile speedway was Larson’s debut at River Cities and his first time racing in North Dakota. He kicked it off my setting quick time in Qualifying and making his way into the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash with a second-place run in his Drydene Heat Race behind David Gravel.

He drew the rear for the Dash but in typical Larson fashion, he seamlessly teleported his way from sixth to third on the opening lap of the Dash and ended up second. Gravel claimed the win — placing he and Larson on the front row for the 40-lap Feature.

Their battle around the bullring would be an extension of the war they waged for the win at Knoxville Raceway last weekend.

When the duo drag raced to Turn 1 at the start of the Feature, Larson darted ahead by ripping the top lane of the corner. Points leader Logan Schuchart followed in his tire tracks, stealing second from Gravel on the first lap, as well. The Silva Motorsports #57 did as it does every race, though, and pulled away from the field.

The end of the first 14 laps saw reigning champion Brad Sweet’s streak of bad luck continue. Wayne Johnson spun in Turn 4, causing cars to stack up. Sweet, who was fifth, jumped a tire of a slowed car in front of him and went head first into the Turn 4 wall. His Kasey Kahne Racing team was able to get his car repaired and send him back on track to make a charge from the rear. And he did. While Larson and Schuchart battled, Sweet made his way back to fifth by the end of the Feature.

Larson held a commanding lead over Schuchart for the majority of the race, but with heavy traffic in the final five laps Schuchart took advantage of the opportunity to strike. Locked on Larson’s bumper down the backstretch with four laps to go, Schuchart dove to the bottom in Turn 3. Larson also had the same idea. The two drivers made contact with Larson getting turned into the Turn 4 grass off Schuchart’s front bumper.

“I felt contact into (Turn) three,” Larson said. “I wasn’t sure if it was a lapper because I came across. But thank God I was able to keep it straight. I knew there wasn’t many laps left. Had to get up on the wheel there.”

Schuchart sped away while Larson added off-roading to his resume by steering his car straight through the grass and back on to the track without losing another spot.

The win appeared to be in Schuchart’s hand as he held about a half of a straight away lead on Larson coming to the white flag. However, Larson tested the limits of his machine each corner. He throw it into Turn 1 and found enough traction to cut a few car lengths off Schuchart’s lead.

On their exit of Turn 2, Schuchart couldn’t put the power down quick enough and allowed Larson to close even further. At Turn 3, Schuchart entered through the middle, while Larson went as high as he could go. Their cars met at Turn 4, but while Schuchart was sliding up, Larson turned down underneath him and rocketed by to steal the win.

“I knew he was going to have to make a decision going into (Turn) three and hoped he wasn’t going to run the cushion,” Larson said. “I knew that would be my only shot. I was just able to time the run good and clear him off of (Turn) four here.

“That was definitely an exciting one. It’s been fun to win a lot. I hope we keep it going.”

While Schuchart had to settle for second, he was still able to extend his points lead over Sweet – now 24 points ahead of the defending champion.

“It is just tough when you’re behind a guy like that,” Schuchart, of Hanover, PA, said about racing with Larson. “Kyle doesn’t make any mistakes. He’s tough. I had one shot right there. I felt like I could get through (Turns) one and two a little bit better at times and catch him.

“I felt like I had one shot there. I was getting close and had a really good run into (Turn) three when he cut to the bottom and I was trying to back off and go to the outside of him and caught his back bumper. I’m not trying to hit him, and I know he didn’t the other night at Knoxville. That’s racing and we’re racing hard. He just drove a little bit better than I did and got the job done.”

Ten-time Series champion Donny Schatz, of Fargo, ND, put on a show for his home state crowd, battling with Gravel and James McFadden for third throughout the Feature. He was able to come out on top of that battle, rounding out the podium, and rebound from a rough weekend in Knoxville where he was unable to score a top-10 finish.

“We didn’t have the right combination here tonight,” Schatz said. “Just the way it goes. When you get behind the eight ball a little bit you get a long way behind. My guys are doing an incredible job with what we have to work with and will have to keep digging.”

Gravel’s fourth-place finish helped keep Jason Johnson Racing in close contention for the team championship – only eight points behind Schuchart’s Shark Racing team.

UP NEXT

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returns to Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, ND for the Red River Rumble on Sat., Aug. 22. Get tickets by clicking here.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all of the action live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) — 1. 57-Kyle Larson [2][$10,000]; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][$5,500]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$3,200]; 4. 41-David Gravel [1][$2,800]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [6][$2,500]; 6. 9-James McFadden [3][$2,300]; 7. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [9][$2,200]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [11][$2,100]; 9. 14-Parker Price-Miller [10][$2,050]; 10. 2-Carson Macedo [13][$2,000]; 11. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [14][$1,500]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [8][$1,200]; 13. 7S-Jason Sides [5][$1,100]; 14. 13-Sammy Swindell [12][$1,050]; 15. 8H-Jade Hastings [21][$1,000]; 16. 33M-Mason Daniel [16][$900]; 17. 9N-Wade Nygaard [15][$800]; 18. 20A-Jordan Adams [24][$800]; 19. 14T-Tim Estenson [22][$800]; 20. 35-Skylar Prochaska [20][$800]; 21. 2C-Wayne Johnson [18][$800]; 22. 2A-Austin Pierce [25][$]; 23. 8-Jack Croaker [17][$800]; 24. 26-Blake Egeland [23][$800]; 25. 11M-Brendan Mullen [19][$800]; Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-36, 40; Logan Schuchart 37-39; KSE Hard Charger: Jade Hastings

Qualifying — 1. 57-Kyle Larson, 10.056; 2. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 10.127; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 10.129; 4. 41-David Gravel, 10.145; 5. 9-James McFadden, 10.153; 6. 7S-Jason Sides, 10.192; 7. 15-Donny Schatz, 10.201; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 10.217; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 10.244; 10. 14-Parker Price-Miller, 10.252; 11. 1A-Jacob Allen, 10.257; 12. 35-Skylar Prochaska, 10.272; 13. 2-Carson Macedo, 10.342; 14. 6N-Greg Nikitenko, 10.36; 15. 13-Sammy Swindell, 10.402; 16. 33M-Mason Daniel, 10.514; 17. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 10.571; 18. 8H-Jade Hastings, 10.605; 19. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 10.644; 20. 2A-Austin Pierce, 10.775; 21. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 10.822; 22. 6-Bill Rose, 10.837; 23. 8-Jack Croaker, 10.86; 24. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 10.895; 25. 20A-Jordan Adams, 10.898; 26. 14T-Tim Estenson, 10.959; 27. 14X-Tom Egeland, 11.196; 28. O-Nick Omdahl, 11.259; 29. 26-Blake Egeland, 11.296; 30. 4-Colton Young, 11.831; 31. 17M-Zach Omdahl, NT

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Second Leg of the Northern Tour
Friday, August 21, 2020
River Cities Speedway
2300 Gateway Dr
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203 

Event Description
The World of Outlaws return north to battle around North Dakota's popular bullring.

Series Racing
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Event Schedule
Start Times
Pits- 2:00 p.m.
Stands- 4:00 p.m.
Hot Laps- 6:30 p.m.
Time Trials- 7 p.m.
Racing at 7:30 p.m.
*All times Central

Options And Prices
Adult Reserved - $39
Child Reserved (0-12 yrs.) - $19

Reserved Seat Tickets in Advance
Adult Pit Combo - $42 (Reserved Seat + Pit Pass + “Class of 2019” poster)
Child Pit Combo - $29 (0-12 yrs.) (Reserved Seat + Pit Pass + “Class of 2019” poster)

Pit Combo ticket holders sign in at the pit gate.

Pit Pass at Gate
Adult - $40
Pit Pass Child (12 & under) - $25
(Upgrade any ticket to a Pit Pass for $10 on Race Day)

Anyone under the age of 18 MUST have a parent (Mother or Father) or legal guardian complete the release form at the pit gate.


TICKET INFO

Grandstand Type
Select rows in main grandstand have seat back

Family Section Location
no

Handicapped Seating Location
Bottom row of main covered grandstands

Pit Age Requirement
NO age restriction for pits. 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent/ guardian with signed Minor Waiver.

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Parking Cost
Free

Handicapped Parking Location
Front gate

Camping Availability
electric hookup, onsite

Camping Cost
$20 with water; Contact Linda Bernard, 218-244-3792, for reservations

To Win Amount
$10,000.00

Type of Grandstand
Select rows in main grandstand have seat back

Handicapped Seating
Bottom row of main covered grandstands

Handicapped Parking
Front gate

Pit Age Limit
NO age restriction for pits. 17 and under must be accompanied by a parent/ guardian with signed Minor Waiver.

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Personal Coolers
No coolers allowed

ATMs
1

Alcohol Sales
Alcohol is sold on site, including beer and malt beverages.

Smoking Policy
No smoking in grandstands. Smoking is only permitted in designated areas.

Family Section
no

Parking Cost
Free

Camping Availability
electric hookup, onsite

Camping Cost
$20 with water; Contact Linda Bernard, 218-244-3792, for reservations

River Cities Speedway
2300 Gateway Dr
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58203 

Track Phone
(701) 780-0999

Track Email
[email protected]

Track Size
0.25

Sprint Car Track Record
9.269 seconds by Jason Meyers on 8/21/09

Late Model Track Record
11.255 by Joey Pederson on 9/9/2018

Closest Airport
Grand Forks Int'l

Other Airport
Fargo

Pit Gate Location
East side of the track

Track Map

Competitor Downloads
 https://www.dirtcarmembers.com/downloads.php