Kyle Larson wins Williams Grove to take ASCOC season lead in victories

Kyle Larson continued his triumphant dirt run of wins this summer Friday night at famed Williams Grove Speedway, where he scored his series-leading eighth victory in the All Star Circuit of Champions.

Larson pocketed $5,000 for defeating a Tommy Hinnershitz Classic field filled with World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car SEries and “Pennsylvania Posse” drivers. He started fifth in the 30-lap feature and took the lead from pole-sitter Anthony Macri with three laps remaining at the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, track.

It was the latest victory for his No. 57 sprint car, which has nearly two dozen victories across various series and states this year.

“This is pretty cool. Anytime you can win over a field like this is pretty special, especially at Williams Grove Speedway,” Larson said in an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet ASCOC release. “I thought we were pretty good all night. Once we got to halfway, I knew it was time to pick it up a little bit if we wanted to be there at the end.

“I was able to carry a lot of speed through the corners and that really helped us out, even when we got into some traffic. Paul Silva does a pretty awesome job getting these cars to drive to well. Hopefully we can keep this going.”

Kyle Larson's dirt track finishes since June 5: 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 6, 1, 4, 1, 1, 1, 6, 1, 4, 1, 6, 1, 1, 1.

— Adam Fenwick (@Adam_Fenwick) July 18, 2020

In winning for the fourth time in six ASCOC races, Larson broke a tie with defending series champion and points leader Aaron Reutzel for most victories this season in the 410 winged sprint car series owned by Tony Stewart.

Friday’s race also included Outlaws winners David Gravel, Daryn Pittman, Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild and Carson Macedo (who drives for Kyle Larson Racing).

A-Main (30 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [1]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 4. 41-David Gravel [7]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [16]; 8. 2-Carson Macedo [3]; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel [9]; 10. 51-Freddie Rahmer [12]; 11. 5-Brent Marks [8]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 13. 17H-Sheldon Haudenschild [21]; 14. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [10]; 15. 11T-TJ Stutts [15]; 16. 13-Paul McMahan [19]; 17. 21-Brian Montieth [14]; 18. 14-Parker Price-Miller [17]; 19. 24-Lucas Wolfe [20]; 20. 39-Jason Solwold [18]; 21. 1X-Chad Trout [13]; 22. 1W-Matt Campbell [25]; 23. 11-Zeb Wise [22]; 24. 99-Skylar Gee [24]; 25. 17-Josh Baughman [26]; 26. 3-Jac Haudenschild [23]; 27. 39S-Sammy Swindell [27]. Lap leaders: Anthony Macri (1-26), Kyle Larson (27-30)

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Kyle Larson wins at Williams Grove to take lead in ASCOC victories this year

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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