WILLIAMS GROVE, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now – July 17, 2020): Kyle Larson’s amazing hot streak continued at the Williams Grove Speedway. The former NASCAR pilot captured the Tommy Hinnershitz Memorial Classic named for the first-ballot Hall of Fame driver who happened to score the first victory in the 81 years of the historic track. Larson was greeted in victory lane by a member of the Hinnershitz family, who readily agreed that Tommy would have been proud of the rim-riding style displayed by Larson throughout most of the race. Ironically, the winning move was something Larson had learned from his good friend, Lance Dewease. On lap 26, Larson dove low in turn three and blasted by Anthony Macri who was seeking his first 410 Sprint Car win at the track.

“I’ve won a lot of races, but I have never been on a streak like this before,” Larson said modestly. Despite the down time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the missed races due to his NASCAR obligation, Larson now has more than 20 victories in Sprint Car and Midget competition.

“I felt really good the whole race,” he said. He admitted to being “a little sloppy” until he adjusted his wing. That enabled him to get off the corners better. Adding to his late-race advantage, the straightaways cleared off and Larson was able to get a run into the corners as well. The higher entry speed led to more momentum through the corners, as was evident when he pulled the trigger on the unsuspecting Macri.

Macri had the pole for the star-studded 30 lapper. Next to him was Kerry Madsen. Row two should have been comprised of Carson Macedo and Sammy Swindell. However, Swindell’s car began to leak oil and water on the pace laps, and he was forced to retire form the contest. That moved up Daryn Pittman to the second row. Larson and Cory Eliason were the third row pairing. David Gravel and Brent Marks lined up in row four and Aaron Reutzel was joined by Kyle Reinhardt in row five.

Macri took the lead, but Madsen, Macedo, Pittman and Larson stayed close in the early going. Macri built up a substantial lead as the laps clicked off. He had a bit of a scare on lap nine, however. “I misjudged the corner and got into the curb,” he explained. Madsen pulled up beside the young driver who kept his poise and the lead. Macri began to pull away again, but his lead was wiped out by the only caution of the race. On lap 15, soon after Macri got the halfway signal, Josh Baughman coasted to a stop on the long back chute.

Macri and Madsen were nose to tail for the restart. Madsen tried to slide under Macri in the first turn, but Macri made a block before sliding up to the cushion. “I went to the bottom on the restart and I tried to carry the momentum around the top,” he explained. The maeuver worked and Macri again began to build his lead over the Aussie.

“I’ve never had much luck at Williams Grove,” Madsen said. “I thought I had a car that could win it in the middle of the race,” he added. But after his two runs at Macri, Madsen was unable to mount another challenge. Instead, it was Larson who kept getting faster and faster as teh race moved into the final stanza. “Paul (Silva) prepares an awesome car and I can trust it a lot,” Larson noted.

Indeed, he moved into fourth on the restart and he seemed destined to remain there for the rest of the race. But suddenly, the California-based car came to life. He reached second by lap 22 but Macri still had a lead of several car lengths. Larson began to close the gap despite jumpingthe cushion a couple of times in turn four. He was on Macri’s tail with five to go and made the big move one lap later to nail down his second win of the season at the Grove.

Larson and Macri were followed by Madsen, Gravel, and Pittman.Brock Zearfoss rallied in the last ten laps to get sixth. Danny Dietrich advanced ten positions to nab seventh.Macedoand Reutzel crossed before Freddie Rahmer, Jr.

Marks, Swindell, Reutzel, and Macedo took the preliminaries. Lucas Wolfe topped the B Main. The twin dashes went to Macri and Madsen. Larson was the evening’s fastest qualifier with a lap of 16.950 seconds. He was the only friver below 17 seconds this night.

Kevin Nouse scored his second 358 Sprint Car win, leading the entire 20 laps. Doug Hammaker, Chris Frank, Tyler Brehm, and Scott Fisher were the other members of the top five.

Williams Grove Speedway will host the Summer Nationals next Friday and Saturday. The World of Outlaws will be present in full force, but other invaders are expected as the All Stars will be off that weekend. Yung Money (Larson) will also be in the house. Lance Dewease will return in the hopes of scoring his 100th career win at the track.