Kyle Larson drove away on a late race restart with 16 laps to go to win Wednesday night’s fourth annual Aspen Dental 150 at Eldora Speedway. The NASCAR mainstay came from being one lap down for over 20 circuits in the main event to claim the victory.
The savvy driver managed to grab on lap 35 in the event but fell behind when he spun his #24 DC Solar Chevrolet heading into Turn 4. To make matters worse, Larson received a one lap penalty from NASCAR officials when he intentionally stopped his truck to bring out the caution flag.
Kyle Larson got the break he needed after racing a lap down for over twenty revolutions. The Maury Gallagher Team racer was the first truck in the running order a lap down. As a result, he received the “Lucky Dog” and was placed back on the lead lap. Larson worked his way back to front and took control on the contest’s final re-start to claim his first win at the dirt track. The winner commented on how the race played out in his favor.
“It means a lot, especially losing the way I did the two years I ran,” said Larson from Victory Lane. “Thanks to everyone on this GMS Racing team, DC Solar for coming on-board for this, this is very special for them. I knew running a blue No. 24 I had to run hard here at Eldora. Rico Abreu does a really good job in a Sprint car with that. I had to put on a show. We got the flat tire there early, I knew we would get a lucky dog. I just didn’t know if I also could get back to the top-three as quick as I did. It just worked out where I got by (Christopher) Bell when he got in the wall. I think Bobby (Pierce) had a gear issue. He was definitely better than I was.” Larson said.
Second place finisher, Bobby Pierce appeared to have the truck to beat for the better part of Wednesday’s event. Pierce led 102 of the first 118 laps and had no problem remaining out in front. In fact, he looked well on his way to avenging his runner-up finish a year ago. Things don’t always go as one might want. Pierce knew he was in trouble on a re-start with 31 circuits to go. Pierce told his team over the radio that the clutch was going out in his # 63 Premiere Waste Chevrolet and that he was jammed into fourth gear.
The damaged clutch made it impossible for Bobby Pierce to get up to speed on the races re-start. As a result, Larson took advantage and jumped back in front. From there, Larson hit the outside wall, momentarily conceding the lead back to Pierce.
Pierce then over sped into into a turn and crashed his hot-rod into the wall himself. Kyle Larson recaptured the lead and went on to win. Pierce flattened his tire and that ended his chance for victory. The fastest truck on the half mile clay oval ended up finishing the race in 25th. Pierce explained what happened after re-capturing the lead.
“I didn’t think it would be that slick. … I thought I went in there a little too hot, but I thought the truck would stick a little bit more in the center,” Pierce said. “It just kept sliding and sliding and sliding and I just thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to be good.’ ”
Defending Eldora champion Christopher Bell found away to challenge for the lead in the event’s final moments. Although Bell didn’t lead a single lap during the race he closed in on Kuyle Larson’s back bumper when the eventual victor missed a shift with a few laps to go. That was as close as Bell could get to the lead and he settled for a solid second place finish.
Final Running Order for the $th Annual Aspen Dental 150 at Eldora Speedway:
1 7 24 Kyle Larson(i) DC Solar Chevrolet 150 0 135.7 Running 2 48
2 10 4 Christopher Bell # JBL Toyota 150 31 121.2 Running
3 27 98 Rico Abreu # Safelite Auto Glass/Curb Records Toyota 150 30 80.7 Running
4 11 11 Jake Griffin Toyota 150 29 103.0 Running
5 2 29 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford 150 28 113.2 Running
6 23 00 Cole Custer # OneMain Chevrolet 150 27 83.2 Running
7 20 13 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Toyota 150 26 92.7 Running
8 15 19 Daniel Hemric Draw-Tite Ford 150 25 79.5 Running
9 28 22 Austin Wayne Self # AM Technical Solutions Toyota 150 24 78.0 Running
10 22 88 Matt Crafton Chi-Chi’s/Menards Toyota 150 23 90.4 Running
11 17 33 Ben Kennedy wheelwell Chevrolet 150 22 66.8 Running
12 3 71 Ken Schrader Hunt Brothers Pizza Toyota 150 21 76.2 Running
13 8 21 Johnny Sauter Alamo Chevrolet 150 20 65.2 Running
14 18 9 William Byron # Liberty University Toyota 150 19 62.9 Running
15 4 44 JR Heffner Park East Sales/A. Colarusso Chevrolet 150 18 61.2 Running
16 25 07 Sheldon Creed Safecraft Chevrolet 148 17 59.6 Running
17 32 50 Travis Kvapil CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet 146 16 44.5 Running
18 29 49 Wayne Edwards OH! Lottery Chevrolet 145 15 41.2 Running
19 26 51 Cody Coughlin # JEGS Toyota 144 14 52.7 Running
20 24 02 Tyler Young Randco/Young’s Building Systems Chevrolet 143 13 40.9 Running
21 16 05 Brady Boswell Zaxby’s Chevrolet 143 12 49.0 Running
22 14 86 Brandon Brown ABS Van Rentals Chevrolet 139 11 54.3 Running
23 5 41 Ben Rhodes # XPO Logistics Toyota 136 10 76.7 Running
24 21 8 John H. Nemechek Berry’s Bullets Chevrolet 129 9 59.0 Running
25 1 63 Bobby Pierce PremierWaste/AllgayerInc/gottarace.com Chevrolet 126 10 2 102.3 Accident 2 102
26 30 1 Jennifer Jo Cobb Westside Vapor/I VAPE I VOTE Chevrolet 124 7 29.9 Running
27 19 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 116 6 61.3 Running
28 12 16 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Chevrolet 111 5 66.0 Accident
29 9 23 Spencer Gallagher Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 107 4 74.0 Running
30 6 75 Caleb Holman FoodCountryUSA/LopezWealthMgmt Chevrolet 37 3 57.2 Accident
31 13 80 Justin Shipley Rogers Mechanical Ford 11 2 27.3 Overheating
32 31 66 Jordan Anderson FK Rod Ends/Columbia, SC Chevrolet 5 1 24.8 Engine
