Kyle Larson Wins Third Ironman 55; Sweeps The Weekend

Kyle Larson competing at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO (Photo: Trent Gower | World Racing Group)

PEVELY, Mo. — On Saturday night, Kyle Larson pursued another Ironman 55 title with the World of Outlaws sprint car series at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. His path toward another victory was a bit difficult as he started from the 12th starting spot.

Giovanni Scelzi and Donny Schatz led the field to the starting area in Turn 4 where Scelzi jumped out to an early lead with Schatz right behind him. Carson Macedo lingered behind Schatz though, waiting to make a move on either of the two leaders.

Before anyone could get scored though, a pile-up between Noah Gass and Ayden Gatewood took place in Turns 1 and 2, drawing the caution. The restart saw all three drivers maintain their respective positions though.

On Lap 17, Larson was already up to fifth and was looking to make his way even further into the top five. As he raced down the backstretch side-by-side with Corey Day, who was in the coveted fourth-place position, he went down low going into the corner, and was able to get by Day by the time they hit Turn 4. Larson, seeing Macedo up top, decided to stick to the bottom to finish the turn, but drifted up as they hit the straightaway, keeping fourth.

It took “Yung Money” a couple of more laps, but he finally caught up to Macedo once again.  And, just like last time, Larson went to the bottom to try and pass. They raced wheel-to-wheel down the back chute and when they got to the corner, Larson threw it in, putting his nose just a little bit ahead of Macedo. Larson used this to slidejob Macedo, but Macedo crossed back over in front of him, reclaiming third.

Just as Larson was going to go back at it going into the corner, it appeared as though Macedo got loose by hopping the cushion, but it was actually a slower car who had stopped right in front of him, causing Macedo to slam on his brakes to avoid any contact. Once the car was cleared from the track, the racing action got underway again, and this time Macedo passed Schatz for second, leaving the ten-time champion to deal with Larson.

Schatz, now in third, had to feel the pressure of both Larson and Day, who had swapped positions and were both looking to move up. Day went low to try and get around Schatz going into Turn 3 on Lap 32, and this backfired for Day because a car slowed right in front of him. Day saw it and slammed on his brakes, lightly hitting the car of Gatewood and spinning himself out, but the carnage was far from over because Michael “Buddy” Kofoid came zooming in on the bottom of the corner.

Before he could stop himself, he slammed into Day, sending Day end-over-end and on his roof, and damaging his own car pretty good. Luckily, all three drivers were okay.

Giovanni Scelzi competing at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, MO (Photo: Trent Gower | World Racing Group)

On the restart, Schatz got by Macedo for second, but Larson got by Macedo to claim third. Larson, on a roll and not wanting to stop, clung to the bottom and went after Schatz for the runner-up spot, but Schatz said “not right now” and slammed the door in his face.

Larson respected the decision of Schatz and waited it out until he tried to enter again, but Brock Zearfoss changed the whole dynamic when he slowed on the frontstretch, bringing out another caution. This time, Larson got by Schatz for second and pulled away from him completely, leaving Schatz and Macedo to battle it out for third.

With 12 laps remaining, Scelzi had caught up to some heavy lap traffic. Scelzi tried to go around some lap cars on the front straight and did so successfully, but Larson was right there and was keeping to that bottom lane that he loved so much. The two of them cleared a couple of more cars and found some clean air going down the back chute. As they hit the corner, Larson dove in and came out high, snagging the lead from “Hot Sauce” to lead Lap 44.

Larson was able to maintain the lead for the duration of the race to pick up his third Ironman 55 title, as well as sweep the weekend by winning both races. Schatz, Macedo, Scelzi and Logan Schuchart rounded out the top five.

“You know, being the leader, you don’t know when to move around,” said Larson about the race. “The middle really came in there in [Turns] 1 and 2 with all the lappers and stuff, so I just kinda stayed committed to that and could tell that I’d gain on it in [Turns] 1 and 2 and lose it in [Turns] 3 and 4. Another great feature; wish we could’ve been better earlier on in the night, but was able to hit it right for the feature so that’s all that matters.”