Kyle Larson wins fifth consecutive dirt race on the All Star Circuit

By Jul 20, 2020, 10:30 AM EDT
Michael Fry/ASCOC
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Kyle Larson scored his fifth consecutive victory in the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions, leading the final 21 laps to sweep the Saturday-Sunday races at Port Royal (Pennsylvania) Speedway.

Coupled with winning Saturday in the first half of the Bob Wikert Memorial, Larson won an extra $5,000 on top of the $10,000 earned for each victory.

He has 10 victories in 16 starts this year on the 410 winged sprint car circuit owned by Tony Stewart. Over the last 45 days in the No. 57 owned by Paul Silva, Larson has 20 victories in 33 starts on dirt tracks with a worst finish of sixth.

He also has won his last three starts in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and is expected to go for four in a row Tuesday night in the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania.

“My car was really good again tonight. Hats off to Paul Silva and everyone else that helps make this all possible,” Kyle Larson said after his victory Sunday, according to an ASCOC release. “We had a string of races where we just missed getting the wins and got beat late. It was starting to stress me out, to be honest, but now we’re winning again. Hopefully we can keep it up, especially with some bigger races coming up.”

Larson took the lead at Port Royal on Lap 10 from Carson Macedo, who drives for Kyle Larson Racing in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car series. Though he led 32 of 60 laps across two feature races, Larson said he still wasn’t comfortable until the checkered flagg.

“I was honestly a little worried the whole race,” Larson said. “(Points leader Aaron) Reutzel was running really hard the first ten laps, but I felt like I was really good behind him, especially getting through turns three and four. I wasn’t sure how close he would be to me once I got out front, but I felt like I hit my marks good enough that he wouldn’t be able to get back by me.”

A-Main (30 Laps)

1. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [10]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [9]; 4. 29-Danny Dietrich [5]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 6. 41-David Gravel [11]; 7. 5-Brent Marks [22]; 8. 83-Daryn Pittman [3]; 9. 72-Ryan Smith [20]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney [19]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart [7]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [15]; 13. 51-Freddie Rahmer [17]; 14. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 15. 17-Josh Baughman [23]; 16. 17h-Sheldon Haudenschild [12]; 17. 55-Mike Wagner [27]; 18. 11-Zeb Wise [25]; 19. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [21]; 20. 9-Kasey Kahne [24]; 21. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 22. 2-Carson Macedo [2]; 23. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 24. 17B-Steve Buckwalter [16]; 25. 2f-AJ Flick [26]; 26. 55K-Robbie Kendall [18]; 27. 39s-Sammy Swindell [14] Lap Leaders: Carson Macedo (1-9), Kyle Larson (10-30)

Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing

By Jun 8, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”