LAWTON, Okla. — Kyle Larson won his second consecutive Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 feature during round four of Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires Monday night at Lawton Speedway.
Larson’s $5,000 triumph required patience and perseverance, while he fended off some of the best in the business, all while navigating a tricky, yet narrow racing groove.
It was his third All Star victory of the season and his fourth sprint car win of the campaign.
“To come out here and win two in a row like this says so much about this team and what we have going on,” said Larson, who won Sunday at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan. “It’s pretty incredible to see so many people out here supporting this deal, especially on a Monday night. It’s exciting to be a part of it.”
Despite a pair of cautions delaying the initial start, Larson was unrattled, utilizing his row two starting spot to get the jump into second before the completion of lap one.
Powering ahead from the pole position, two-time and defending All Star champion, Aaron Reutzel, set the early pace, keeping things in check during the first nine circuits.
Traffic came into play for the first time on lap 10, giving Larson an opportunity to close the gap on Reutzel. Putting himself in striking distance early, Larson eventually made a bid for the lead on lap 13, executing a perfect slider through turns three and four before outsprinting Reutzel back to the flag stand.
Although Larson was the sole leader from that point forward, Reutzel did not go down without a fight, nearly reclaiming the top spot on several occasions with aggressive sliders through turns one and two.
All of Retuzel’s attempts were eventually denied, as Larson was able to diamond off the corner and retake command before the exit of turn two. In total, three slide job attempts were carried out by Reutzel in hopes of dethroning Larson, but as aforementioned, all three were negated.
Meanwhile, as the front runners diced for positions, Lawton Speedway’s racing real estate started to narrow forcing all feature competitors to move into the rubbered-up racing groove that formed around the middle and bottom of the speedway. Although wide in some spots, the abrasive surface made passing tricky.
After a fuel stop with 29 laps recorded, instigated by another caution and a dissipated fuel window, action resumed with Larson still on the point. Even with Reutzel and Danny Dietrich applying the pressure, Larson hung on the final 11 circuits.
“There’s a lot of strategy that goes into racing on a surface that gets like that. It makes it fun in a way, but it can be really stressful,” Larson said. “I knew Aaron’s (Reutzel) only shot to get by me was going to be a slider in one of the corners. I was just trying to run easy. I didn’t want to get too close to the guys in front of me, and the track was still really wide at that point. He was almost carrying too much speed when he got by me that he actually slipped up out of the rubber.”
Less than a second back, Reutzel crossed the line in the runner-up spot, followed by Danny Dietrich, Josh Baughman and D.J. Netto.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [6]; 4. 17-Josh Baughman [2]; 5. 88N-D.J. Netto [9]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [3]; 8. 41G-Gio Scelzi [13]; 9. 11-Zeb Wise [14]; 10. 18-Ian Madsen [12]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 12. 14-Tony Stewart [20]; 13. 13-Paul McMahan [15]; 14. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [16]; 15. 52-Blake Hahn [17]; 16. 70-Justin Peck [18]; 17. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [11]; 19. 17W-Harli White [21]; 20. 9$-Kyle Clark [24]; 21. 21P-Robbie Price [19]; 22. 16A-Justin Sanders [7]; 23. 55-Danny Wood [23]; 24. 4-Danny Smith [22] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1-12), Kyle Larson (13-40)