Kyle Larson qualified for the opening night of the Ironman 55 at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri, by winning the Last Chance Showdown and he converted a 21st-place starting position into his first World of Outlaws victory of 2024. It was the 33rd series victory of his career.
Larson entered the race as the defending champion of the Ironman 55, but this year’s effort showed much less potential at the beginning of the program.
Starting near the rear of the 24-car field, Larson made his way into the top 10 by Lap 8, was among the top five 10 laps later, and was ready to settle for a strong result until a late-race caution forced a restart with 11 laps remaining.
Larson passed two cars in two laps after the restart and set his sights on Sheldon Haudenschild in second. With four laps remaining, Haudenschild bobbled, allowing Larson to take the position, but even then, it appeared James McFadden, who led from the drop of the green flag, had the race under control.
Larson trailed by a second with one lap remaining. To put that last-lap deficit into perspective, Haudenschild, the fastest qualifier for the Ironman 55, posted a lap of 10.507 seconds for the Quick Time award.
From the @MicroLiteLLC LCS to @I55Raceway Victory Lane 🫡@KyleLarsonRacin wheels the @Paul_Silva57 from 21st to the win as he seals it with a last lap pass and photo finish!
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) August 3, 2024
33 career World of Outlaws @NosEnergyDrink Sprint Car wins for Larson! pic.twitter.com/7Z4Y0Z5Nzd
“I could see those two (McFadden and Haudenschild) running the top in (Turns) 3 and 4,” Larson said in a press release. “And I knew my opportunity to get by them was if they made a mistake in (Turns) 3 and 4. Then we caught traffic, and all those lappers were on the bottom. I thought I probably wouldn’t get there.
“Then (McFadden) got hung up real tight behind the lapper off (Turn) 2, kind of choked his momentum and forced him to the bottom. And I figured his angle was too bad to be able to stick it and he would probably be cautious or nervous of Sheldon or somebody coming up top in (Turns) 3 and 4. So, I figured he’d drive across, and I knew I just needed to square up my corner and just try and grab the moisture in the middle of the straightaway.”
As McFadden attempted to execute a slide job on the lapped car in Turn 4, Larson dove to the bottom on exit, got his No. 57 Silva Motorsports sprint car to stick and rocketed off the corner. Both drivers lifted their right front wheels. Larson had slightly more traction and edged McFadden by .053 seconds.
“I’m out of breath,” Larson said. “I’ve been screaming the whole time since I got the checkered flag. I can’t say enough about [the team] for working so hard. We’ve been terrible, and really, really bad tonight, too. And they’ve just been working hard, trying to get the car better each time. I felt like we were pretty good there in the Feature. I felt like we could move around, get my wheels underneath me, and get grip through the center on restarts. I’m just super thankful. This is amazing.”
Larson was aware of the magnitude of the victory.
“There was a kid that came up during the Midget A-main and said, ‘You think you’re going to win tonight?’ ” Larson continued. “And I said, ‘No.’ I did not think we would win. So, this is pretty amazing.”
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