Larson takes seventh in a row on All-Star Circuit

Kyle Larson won his seventh straight Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All-Star Circuit of Champions race presented by Mobil 1 feature Aug. 1, setting a record within the series.

The victory, which paid Larson $5,000, came at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, where the Elk Grove, California-native swept the World of Outlaws weekend in June.

Larson’s win came aboard the Paul Silva wrenched No. 57, and he won despite losing a contact lens along the way. The series is owned by Indiana’s Tony Stewart.

The 25-lap feature was slow to rev up. On the first try, Kasey Kahne got above the Turn 2 cushion and slowed near the wall. Aaron Reutzel did the same on the bottom of Turn 1. Both visited the work area before returning to action.

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Once green, it stayed green, and Gio Scelzi took the early advantage ahead of Lynton Jeffrey and Larson. Brian Brown passed Kerry Madsen for fourth on the second lap. Larson sized up Jeffrey and moved into third on the third circuit.

Rico Abreu, who started 13th, shot from seventh to fifth on the fifth lap. Brown claimed third from Jeffrey on the same lap. Abreu followed him into fourth a lap later.

Up front, Larson was gaining on Scelzi and slid across Turn 4 to take the point on Lap 8. He was in lapped traffic, but by Lap 12, had a straightaway lead. Brown and Scelzi see-sawed back and forth in a battle for second that saw three passes for that position until Brown claimed the spot with 10 laps to go.

Abreu captured third from Scelzi and passed Brown in lapped traffic on Lap 16. Larson’s lead ahead of the three-way battle for second was more than seven seconds by Lap 19. Scelzi and Brown returned to battle, this time for the third spot, in the late stages.

Larson won convincingly over Abreu, Scelzi, who gained third on the last lap, Brown and Shane Stewart. Kerry Madsen, Cory Eliason, Davey Heskin, Ian Madsen and Josh Schneiderman rounded out the top 10.

“Really cool,” Larson said of his record-breaking seventh win in a row. It was his sixth career win at Knoxville. “I did read that earlier today, and it added pressure to tonight. Qualifying well is important in every format you run. It was a good, solid night. Even late, I could make time following the top all around.”

Racing minus a contact lens was a challenge.

“I lost a contact, so I couldn’t see as well as I needed to, but my car was just good, and I had some lines working for me,” he said. “I could make runs off of two and then slide them in three and four.”

The next night at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota, Larson’s seven-race win streak came to an abrupt end in his heat race when he jumped the cushion in Turn 1 and flipped into the catch fence. He was uninjured in the incident, but his car was done for the night. Cory Eliason won the Huset feature race.

Cummins takes ISW finale

Kyle Cummins of Princeton continued his mastery of Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, winning the final leg of the 2020 USAC Indiana Sprint Week on Aug. 2. The series was rain-plagued at the end with events at Putnamville and Bloomington affected by the weather.

Trailing Cummins at Haubstadt were Shane Cottle, Chase Stockon, Garrett Aitken and Chris Windom. Stockon, a former resident of Elizabethtown who now resides in Fort Branch, was crowned the overall point champion for the week.

Brownstown special tonight

Tonight, Brownstown Speedway will host the 16th annual Hall of Fame Classic. On the schedule will be a $10,000-to-win event for the super late models. Also competing will be modifieds, super stocks and crown vics. The Aug. 1 Paul Crockett Memorial Race was rained out.

For information, visit brownstownspeedway.com.

Lawrenceburg racing tonight

Lawrenceburg Speedway will be in action tonight with a regularly scheduled program of sprints, modifieds, pure stocks and hornets.

For information, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.

Paragon racing Sunday

Paragon Speedway will be racing Sunday night with a program of sprints, modifieds, bombers and hornets.

For information, visit paragonspeedway.com.

Florence specials next week

Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, will host four nights of racing next week with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Aug. 12 will be the Ralph Latham Memorial, Aug. 13 will be the North/South Shootout, Aug. 14 will be double heat races and Aug. 15 will be the North/South 100 paying $50,000 to win.

For ticket information, visit florencespeedway.com.

Veteran racer passes away

Bill Kimmel Sr. of Jeffersonville passed away July 30. He was 91. He was a U.S. Army veteran.

Kimmel was a three-time winner in the ARCA Menards Series in the 1970s, father of series veterans and champions Bill and Frank Kimmel and grandfather of current drivers Will and Frankie Kimmel.

Kimmel drove his first race in 1949 at Sportsdrome Speedway in Jeffersonville and raced for a living from the 1950s through the 1980s, winning more than 500 feature races and 12 track championships throughout the Midwest.

While he was known for his prowess on asphalt tracks, Kimmel also excelled on dirt tracks, competing several times during the 1969 season at 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus, where he won two late model features that year.

In addition to driving in MARC/ARCA Series races for four decades, he was a consistent winner in the rough-and-tumble open wheel sprint cars of that time period.

This week in racing history

In 1950 at 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus, Larry Crockett won the Mutual Racing Association feature over Bud Randall, Wayne Alspaugh and Corvie Tullio.

In 1980 at Brownstown Speedway, Russ Petro won the late model feature over Kenny Simpson, Ray Godsey, Paul Crockett and Ira Bastin. Gary Barrow won the hobby stock feature over Cooley Singer, Jeff Hehman, Steve Trabue and Mike Hauer. Steve Niemoeller won the street stock feature over Mont Scaggs and Jim Haub.

In 1980 at Charlestown Motor Speedway, Ray Godsey won the late model feature over Ira Bastin, Russ Petro, Dusty Chapman and Gerald Dixon. Steve Boley won the hobby stock feature over Danny Eichler and Bob Gullion. Mike Lindner won the street stock feature over Rick Cole, Ed Cundiff and Willie Sallee.

Also from 1980, at Paragon Speedway, Rickey Hood won the sprint car feature over Bob Kinser, Larry Goad, Ron Dorsett and John Kemp.

From 1980 at Haubstadt, Tom Helfrich won the late model feature over Ray Godsey, Ira Bastin, Doug Ault and W.T. Harris.

From 1980 at Twin Cities, Gary Herbert won the late model feature race over Tommy Day, Carl Collins, Pat Patrick and Dee Kramer. Willie Sallee won the street stock feature over Jim Short, Bill Franks, Russ Smiley and Gerald Reeves.

From 30 years ago in 1990 at Brownstown, Paul Shafer won the late model feature over Steve Barnett, Lee Fleetwood, Jim Curry and Ira Bastin. Mark Barber took the street stock main event over Tony Godsey, Tom Seadler, Gary Green and Darren Davis. Randy Petro won the bomber feature over Dennis Barber, George Berry, Kevin Sebastian and Jay Deckard.

Also, from 1990, at Paragon, Kevin Briscoe won the sprint car feature over Terry Shepherd, Danny Smith, Kelly Kinser and Randy Kinser. Briscoe then won the next night at Haubstadt over Eric Davis, Joey Nash and Mike Thurman.

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