Kyle Larson dirt victory at Port Royal Outlaws is 40th in 80 starts this year

With his series-leading 11th victory in the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws, Kyle Larson made some dirt racing history Friday night at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania.

The 25-lap feature victory was his 40th this season in 80 starts on dirt across sprint cars, midgets and even a Late Model (where he also won at Port Royal in August). His sprint car victories (including 23 Outlaws starts) mostly have come in the No. 57 owned and operated by Paul Silva.

“I would’ve liked to have gotten to 30 (wins); that was probably a more realistic goal,” Larson said in an Outlaws release. “But once we got racing … this is the most I’ve ever raced with Paul. We usually only do 25 to 30 shows. I think with us getting to race more together, days in a row, too, it helped us get into a rhythm. I think that’s why we had such a strong summer.”

Win #11 in 23 World of Outlaws starts for Kyle Larson and @Paul_Silva57 — 40th dirt track win in 80 starts overall for Larson in 2020. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/D5tufLtGn5

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) October 10, 2020

Larson, who recently said he was motivated this year after being fired from his NASCAR ride to prove he had deserved to race in the Cup Series, started first Friday and led all 25 laps of the feature to beat Danny Dietrich. Sheldon Haudenschild finished third.

“I knew my car was good,” Larson said. “It always is. As the race went on, I started to slide more but got a good enough start on the restarts to maintain a decent gap. Awesome car again. Can’t say enough about everyone who works on it.”

In a rare appearance with his Outlaws team, three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart was 13th. The Outlaws return Saturday night to Port Royal.

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps) – 1. 57-Kyle Larson [1][$8,000]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [2][$4,000]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3][$2,500]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [6][$2,200]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4][$2,100]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [8][$2,000]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [5][$1,800]; 8. 41-David Gravel [7][$1,600]; 9. 51-Freddie Rahmer [20][$1,500]; 10. 2M-Kerry Madsen [10][$1,300]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [15][$1,200]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$1,100]; 13. 14S-Tony Stewart [9][$1,000]; 14. 9-James McFadden [11][$700]; 15. 5-Brent Marks [13][$600]; 16. 11-T.J. Stutts [19][$600]; 17. 10X-Ryan Smith [14][$600]; 18. 21-Brian Brown [17][$600]; 19. 72-Daryn Pittman [22][$600]; 20. 1A-Jacob Allen [18][$600]; 21. 83-Spencer Bayston [25][$]; 22. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [24][$600]; 23. 2X-Dylan Cisney [26][$]; 24. 2-Carson Macedo [16][$600]; 25. 69K-Lance Dewease [12][$600]; 26. 55-Mike Wagner [23][$600]; Lap Leaders: Kyle Larson 1-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 51-Freddie Rahmer[+11]

.@dirtvision REPLAY: Kyle Larson is your winner tonight at @PortRoyalSpdway! #LiveNOS pic.twitter.com/J981ERctk4

— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) October 10, 2020

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Kyle Larson bumps dirt winning rate to 50 percent with Outlaws victory at Port Royal

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

Read more about Kyle Larson

Read more about SuperMotocross