Kyle Larson Earns Ohio Sprint Speedweek Victory At Atomic Speedway

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(Vince Vellella Photo)

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (June 22, 2016) – Kyle Larson earned his second Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket victory of 2016 during round six on Wednesday evening, June 22, at Atomic Speedway. Larson used traffic to his advantage to garner the win, taking command over race leader Sheldon Haudenschild on lap 21. From there, the Elk Grove, California, native cruised ahead and led the last ten circuits to score the $5,000 top prize. It was a fourth career Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star, his first at Atomic Speedway. Larson is the first repeat winner of the 34th edition of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket.

“My crew has been working their tails off all week,” said Kyle Larson. “Paul Silva actually found some things wrong with our car and fixed them overnight. It really made a world of difference. I can’t thank him enough for allowing me to come out here and have some fun this week. It’s pretty cool to come out here and be competitive against a field like this.”

Kyle Larson started third on the feature grid, maintaining third in the running order at the completion of lap one. After surviving a four lap battle with Tim Shaffer for the third spot, Larson moved on and started his chase toward the front.

By lap 14, Larson worked around Cole Duncan for second, utilizing the high side of turns one and turn and the low side of turns three and four. Heavy traffic started to come into play for race leader Sheldon Haudenschild by lap 18, allowing Larson to close a near two second gap. Larson made his winning move on lap 21, driving under the Wooster, Ohio, native near the apron of turn three. Despite heavy pressure by Cole Duncan, Sheldon Haudenschild held on to finish second, followed by Duncan, Tim Shaffer, and Randy Hannagan.

“I honestly didn’t think I’d be up here as a winner tonight” explained Kyle Larson in victory lane. “I can’t thank you fans enough for coming out tonight. That race was a lot of fun. We were really fast all night long and the track really gets good when it widens out and slicks off like that. I was able to get by Sheldon there in traffic. The track was starting to take a little bit of rubber. I was able to find it before Sheldon (Haudenschild). Happy to be back here in victory lane. Already excited to return.”

Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket will continue with round seven on Friday evening, June 24, at the Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio. The high paced quarter-mile will kick off the final weekend of Ohio Sprint Speedweek competition for the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, ending officially on Saturday night, June 25, at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Limaland did not host an Ohio Sprint Speedweek event during the 2015 season, losing a battle to Mother Nature.

Limaland Motorsports Park will open gates at 4:00 pm on Friday night, June 24. The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 6, followed by hot laps at 6:30. Those seeking additional news and information should visit Limaland Motorsports Park live on the Web at www.limaland.com.

Contingency Awards/Results – Atomic Speedway – Wednesday, June 22, 2016:
Event: Ohio Sprint Speedweek Night #6
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 48 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Randy Hannagan – 12.106 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Sheldon Haudenschild – 12.005 seconds
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Jamie Veal
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Tim Shaffer
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Caleb Helms
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4: Cole Duncan
JE Pistons Dash: Cole Duncan
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Kyle Larson
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Travis Philo
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Randy Hannagan
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Rico Abreu
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: T.J. Michael

(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse; Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

1.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.005; 2.17W-Bryan Clauson, 12.173; 3.21-Cap Henry, 12.189; 4.71-Jamie Veal, 12.210; 5.60-Kory Crabtree, 12.272; 6.57-Kyle Larson, 12.311; 7.8M-TJ Michael, 12.344; 8.5T-Travis Philo, 12.345; 9.10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.406; 10.09x-Carson Macedo, 12.408; 11.26-Tayler Malsam, 12.443; 12.59N-Bryan Nuckles, 12.470; 13.48-Danny Dietrich, 12.496; 14.57X-Andrew Palker, 12.497; 15.A67-Brandon Wimmer, 12.498; 16.11N-Randy Hannagan, 12.524; 17.49-Tim Shaffer, 12.546; 18.91-Cale Thomas, 12.557; 19.22-Cole Duncan, 12.560; 20.35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.564; 21.24-Rico Abreu, 12.569; 22.11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.620; 23.40-Caleb Helms, 12.652; 24.1-Dale Blaney, 12.736; 25.7C-Taylor Ferns, 12.742; 26.4X-Jimmy Stinson, 12.770; 27.97-Dean Jacobs, 12.779; 28.17-Josh Baughman, 12.791; 29.70-Danny Holtgraver, 12.802; 30.49H-Bradley Howard, 12.805; 31.71m-Paul May, 12.831; 32.37-Mark Coleman, 12.832; 33.4S-Danny Smith, 12.903; 34.O7-Jacob Wilson, 12.938; 35.22D-Josh Davis, 12.977; 36.40i-Mark Imler, 12.980; 37.51-Roger Campbell, 13.045; 38.41X-Dominic Scelzi, 13.057; 39.81-Lee Jacobs, 13.079; 40.3FX-Dean Kester, 13.082; 41.9J-Jessie McCreary, 13.082; 42.O6-Brandy Bower, 13.091; 43.O8-Brandon Conkel, 13.192; 44.83X-Nate Reeser, 13.218; 45.25AU-Jack Lee, 13.264; 46.12-Daniel Harding, 13.321; 47.35m-Wes McGlumphy, 13.322; 48.AUS96-Andy Caruana, 13.510;

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)

71-Jamie Veal[2] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 21-Cap Henry[3] ; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[5] ; 5. 09x-Carson Macedo[7] ; 6. 60-Kory Crabtree[1] ; 7. A67-Brandon Wimmer[10] ; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 9. 26-Tayler Malsam[8] ; 10. 25AU-Jack Lee[12] ; 11. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[9] ; 12. 37-Mark Coleman[11]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)

49-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[3] ; 3. 17W-Bryan Clauson[4] ; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[6] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[2] ; 6. 17-Josh Baughman[8] ; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 8. 97-Dean Jacobs[7] ; 9. 35m-Wes McGlumphy[12] ; 10. O8-Brandon Conkel[11] ; 11. 4S-Danny Smith[9] ; 12. 3FX-Dean Kester[10]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)

40-Caleb Helms[2] ; 2. 91-Cale Thomas[5] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[3] ; 5. 70-Danny Holtgraver[7] ; 6. 7C-Taylor Ferns[6] ; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard[8] ; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson[9] ; 9. AUS96-Andy Caruana[12] ; 10. 81-Lee Jacobs[10] ; 11. 83X-Nate Reeser[11] ; 12. 1-Dale Blaney[1]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps)

22-Cole Duncan[2] ; 2. 4X-Jimmy Stinson[1] ; 3. 11N-Randy Hannagan[3] ; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[4] ; 5. 71m-Paul May[5] ; 6. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[9] ; 7. 12-Daniel Harding[12] ; 8. 22D-Josh Davis[6] ; 9. 40i-Mark Imler[7] ; 10. O6-Brandy Bower[11] ; 11. 51-Roger Campbell[8] ; 12. 9J-Jessie McCreary[10]
Dash 1 – (6 Laps)

22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[3] ; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[5] ; 4. 49-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 5. 91-Cale Thomas[8] ; 6. 71-Jamie Veal[4] ; 7. 21-Cap Henry[6] ; 8. 17W-Bryan Clauson[7]
C-Main 1 – (10 Laps)

41X-Dominic Scelzi[3] ; 2. 40i-Mark Imler[1] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[4] ; 4. 51-Roger Campbell[2] ; 5. 12-Daniel Harding[11] ; 6. 9J-Jessie McCreary[6] ; 7. 25AU-Jack Lee[10] ; 8. O8-Brandon Conkel[8] ; 9. 35m-Wes McGlumphy[12] ; 10. O6-Brandy Bower[7] ; 11. 83X-Nate Reeser[9] ; 12. AUS96-Andy Caruana[13] ; 13. 3FX-Dean Kester[5] ; 14. 37-Mark Coleman[14]
B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)

60-Kory Crabtree[1] ; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 3. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[4] ; 4. A67-Brandon Wimmer[5] ; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam[3] ; 6. 1-Dale Blaney[7] ; 7. 4S-Danny Smith[12] ; 8. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 9. 97-Dean Jacobs[9] ; 10. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[15] ; 11. 17-Josh Baughman[10] ; 12. 7C-Taylor Ferns[8] ; 13. 22D-Josh Davis[14] ; 14. O7-Jacob Wilson[13] ; 15. 49H-Bradley Howard[11] ; 16. 40i-Mark Imler[16]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)

57-Kyle Larson[3] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 4. 49-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 5. 11N-Randy Hannagan[12] ; 6. 91-Cale Thomas[5] ; 7. 21-Cap Henry[7] ; 8. 71-Jamie Veal[6] ; 9. 17W-Bryan Clauson[8] ; 10. 24-Rico Abreu[14] ; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser[15] ; 12. 5T-Travis Philo[22] ; 13. 10H-Chad Kemenah[11] ; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich[16] ; 15. 8M-TJ Michael[13] ; 16. 1-Dale Blaney[25] ; 17. 4X-Jimmy Stinson[10] ; 18. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[23] ; 19. 09x-Carson Macedo[17] ; 20. A67-Brandon Wimmer[24] ; 21. 60-Kory Crabtree[21] ; 22. 57X-Andrew Palker[18] ; 23. 4S-Danny Smith[26] ; 24. 81-Lee Jacobs[27] ; 25. 70-Danny Holtgraver[19] ; 26. 71m-Paul May[20] ; 27. 40-Caleb Helms[9]
Current Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket Standings (6/22/2016):

Kyle Larson: 874
Sheldon Haudenschild: 808
Chad Kemenah: 792
Tim Shaffer: 764
Dean Jacobs: 742
Dale Blaney: 740
Cale Thomas: 738
Kraig Kinser: 732
Danny Holtgraver: 724
Cap Henry: 714
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (6/22/2016):
1. Dale Blaney: 2298
2. Chad Kemenah: 2258
3. Sheldon Haudenschild: 2190
4. Cap Henry: 2104
5. T.J. Michael: 2072
6. Danny Holtgraver: 2062
7. Kraig Kinser: 2012
8. Lee Jacobs: 2004
9. Caleb Helms: 1910
10. Andrew Palker: 1796

About Cometic Gasket:

Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive Performance, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Housed in a 70,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing center in Concord Township, Ohio, Cometic Gasket has maintained its deep roots in the powersports industry while expanding to service the Domestic Automotive, Sport Compact, V-twin, Marine, Diesel, Agricultural, Industrial and Stationary Power markets. Today, Cometic Gasket offers over 85,000 SKUs, shipping gaskets and engine sealing solutions across the globe.

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:

Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.

About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:

All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.

About Arctic Cat:

The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACAT.” More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.

Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions

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