Outlaws, Allstars, Posse, Late models, midgets etc. This guy is not a regular in any series, just runs now and then. Beat their ass, takes their money and his wife shotguns their beer. Race anywhere, win anywhere. A true outlaw in every sense.
Even though the battle for the lead was not very exciting, the racing behind Larson was pretty good. The charge by Gravel, and his battle with Macedo was real good. I think it would have been different if Rico hadn't had the flat. Knoxville makes guys race for the right to start up front, so I have no problem with the winner coming from row one. It beats a draw for a dash, where the winner can start up front and never pass a car all night. After timing first and starting up front for his heat.
Was there and witnessed first hand some amazing races Thursday thru Saturday. Yeah Larson led all 50 laps, which only him and Schatz have ever done since they went to 50 laps. Gravel was amazing coming from the back and giving all he had to try to catch Kyle the last 5 or so. The battle between 3-5 was crazy. Lotta action throughout. Not sure what all they showed on DV, but was a great 3 nights. Got good news about Covington being ok, but haven’t heard about Cody Ihlen, who violently flipped taking the green on the opening lap of the E main. Both had to be cut out of the car. Just pray all is ok.
Eat dirt, be happy
Let’s go Brandon!!
Bryan Hirshman
Not taking anything away from Larson’s win, but it could be argued that Gravel’s run from 22nd was far superior to Larson’s run from the pole. And Gravel was closing fast at the end, so in my mind his was the performance of the race. Except... if you’ll replay the race to the restart following the halfway break, you can clearly see Gravel hit the cone with his left rear, knocking it towards the inside of the track. I thought I saw it live, so I replayed it this morning. I wonder why that wasn’t called. Any thoughts?
Also for reference, Bobby Pierce won the North/South 100 last night after starting 13th. Ricky Thornton Jr finished 2nd after starting 23rd. As Charles said on his N/S 100 topic, it was an excellent race. 7 of the top 10 finishers started outside the top 10. The top 5 started 13th, 23rd, 3rd, 16th, and 15th.
I was at Knoxville last night. Just got home. The grandstands were completely sold out a week before Saturday’s race. I showed up without a ticket. I bought one from a scalper but even the scalpers themselves didn’t have many tickets. I took what I could get. A limited # of pit pass went on sale at 2 pm. People were lining up for those at noon. The pit passes were sold out within an hour. I’ve been to the Nationals 4x. I’ve never seen it like this.
People were spending $ like there was no tomorrow on t-shirts, food. There were long lines at all food vendors outside the track. Some vendors were sold out. I tried getting a hotel room at the Fairfield Inn in Oskaloosa, 20 miles away. $308 for Saturday night. It was sold out. I don’t want to hear any BS about the economy being bad.
Saw lots of young families with kids. Just a much younger crowd in general. Everyone was happy and excited to be there. Not quite as rowdy as I remember back 30 years ago, but everyone was having a good time.
As for the race itself, I actually thought Schatz had a shot at Larson during the first half, especially when they got into traffic. And yes, watching Gravel make that charge through the field made this year’s race memorable. If Gravel didn’t lose a couple laps trying to get by Schatz after that last restart, the finish would’ve been much closer. I think another lap and Gravel would’ve been on Larson’s bumper.
Back in the day, I never got upset when I saw Steve Kinser win all the time. I knew there’d come day where I’d look back and say, “I saw Kinser in his prime.” I’m the same way with Larson. I know I’m seeing something special right now.
