SprintCarUnlimited.com Staff Report

Kyle Larson had success against the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions and World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series regulars. Then, he conquered Pennsylvania Speedweek.

Now, you can add more wins against the best the All Stars have to offer and Ohio Speedweek to the 2020 list.

No, Larson didn’t win the title in the nine-race series. That honor went to Aaron Reutzel, who put together a consistent week. But when the final win total was tabulated, Larson ripped off three victories in five of his starts.

The California driver tipped the win scale in his favor Sunday night, when he captured the Justin Snyder Salute to the Troops Ohio Speedweek finale at Sharon Speedway. The victory was worth $6,000.

But this particular march wasn’t easy. Especially after Larson smacked the Turn 1 wall on the 27th circuit, which allowed Reutzel to close.

Aaron Reutzel clinched his first career Ohio Speedweek title with a second-place finish at Sharon Speedway. (Paul Arch Photo)

“This place is awesome,” Larson said. “It gets glass slick to the fence, and I thought I could short cut three and four and pick up the cushion on exit and be safer that way. Once I got the lead, I knew I needed to commit there, and I never saw [Aaron’s] nose after the first restart, so I felt like I could stick to what I was doing.

“I felt like I was doing a good job hitting the cushion right and getting a good launch down the straightaways, but once I caught traffic, it was just harder to see your marks.”

Continued Larson, “I made one mistake, and thankfully, it didn’t cost us. It’s cool to come into Ohio and go three for five. I always enjoy Ohio Speedweek and seeing all the Ohio race fans.”

Skylar Gee got the jump at the beginning of the main event, with Larson following close behind. By the time the fifth circuit was scored, Gee had built a .948-second lead.

The frontrunners started to encounter lapped traffic on Lap 9. Larson closed the gap to .172 seconds at the line, but he never got a chance to challenge for the top spot.

As Gee came out of Turn 4 toward the flagstand to complete the 10th circuit, he slid across the track and caught the wall. He came across the line, but his night was over when he rolled to a stop in Turn 1.

That put Larson up front. By the time Lap 15 was scored, the former NASCAR star had built a 2.191-second lead over Reutzel and Cory Eliason, who were locked in a heated exchange for the runner-up position.

Larson was in control of this event, maintaining more than a two-second lead. That all changed on Lap 27, when he entered Turn 1 and got into the fence. That allowed Reutzel to shave over a second off the lead.

“I hit it, and I got kind of stuck in it,” Larson said. “I was figuring I was going to get a flat tire. I was trying to stay calm, and I guess lost focus a little bit going into one and caught the wall.

“I felt like I didn’t make any mistakes up to that point. You never know where [Aaron] is at when you are the leader. I caught traffic and noticed those guys moving down lower and maintaining or getting away from me.

“I was kind of committed to the top, and it’s too difficult to hit the top right every lap. I just moved down and listened for Aaron, and if I heard him, I was going to change what I was doing but I never really heard him.”

Larson slipped past the lapped car of Sye Lynch by the time he took the white flag. Reutzel made one last ditch effort to secure the win, but he fell short by .805 seconds at the finish.

Eliason settled for a third-place finish. Dave Blaney and Greg Wilson completed the top five in the final rundown.

As for Reutzel, his second-place finish locked up the Ohio Speedweek title, the first since he’s become a member of the All Stars series.

“The history of All Star champions and Speedweek has a lot of great names,” Reutzel said. “Like I’ve said before, Speedweek might be a little harder to win because if you have one bad night, it can be all over from there.”

Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Kyle Larson; 2. Aaron Reutzel; 3. Cory Eliason; 4. Dave Blaney; 5. Greg Wilson; 6. Rico Abreu; 7. Danny Dietrich; 8. Paul McMahan; 9. Gerard McIntyre Jr.; 10. Zeb Wise; 11. Georg Hobaugh; 12. Cale Conley; 13. Dan Kuriger; 14. Cole Macedo; 15. Lee Jacobs; 16. Brock Zearfoss; 17. Tim Shaffer; 18. T.J. Michael; 19. Josh Baughman; 20. Sye Lynch; 21. A.J. Flick; 22. Adam Kekich; 23. Brent Matus; 24. Skylar Gee.