Kyle Larson capped off an impressive weekend, Saturday night at I-55 Raceway, as he took his first NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws victory since his world came crashing down a month ago.
On Friday night, Larson became the track record holder at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, as he turned the first-ever sub-10-second lap, with a 9.995 second circuit. He followed that up with a runner-up finish in Friday’s main event.
Kyle Larson Finishes 10th in World of Outlaws Race, First Race Since NASCAR Firing
On Saturday, Larson was running second in the main, when race leader Sheldon Haudenschild flipped on lap 24 of the 40 lap event.
This handed the lead to Larson and the 27-year old California-native would not look back — even as several late cautions gave the field plenty of chances to try to knock him off.
Larson cruised to his ninth-career WoO victory. Brent Marks would finish runner-up. Brad Sweet, who won Friday’s main event, came home third.
In winning the event, Larson collected a cool $20,000 payout.
Winning BIG at the $20,000-to-win @TeamDrydene Double Down Invitational @I55Raceway is @KyleLarsonRacin!?? pic.twitter.com/Q80AWMj37F
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) May 24, 2020
The pressure to perform had to be immense for Larson.
After working his way up the racing ladder to the NASCAR Cup Series, Larson lost the majority of his sponsors and his NASCAR ride at Chip Ganassi Racing after uttering a racial slur during an April iRacing event.
Now, Larson is working on rebuilding his image, and trying to let his racing do the talking while he atones for a slip of the tongue.
Larson’s skill on the track certainly did a lot of talking this weekend.
