ATTICA, Ohio — Another day, another moment of Kyle Larson showing he’s one of the best to drive a sprint car.
Through more than three decades of competition, no driver had topped back-to-back Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classics presented by Racing Optics. Nobody by the name of Kinser, Swindell, Blaney, or any of the other legendary figures of the sport could achieve the feat.
On Tuesday night at Attica Raceway Park, a legend in the making changed that fact.
Larson started second, took the lead on lap one and never looked back. The Elk Grove, Calif., native put together a perfect drive at the Ohio oval — leading all 40 laps on his way to his second consecutive and third overall win in the prestigious event. The victory was worth $15,000.
Larson’s fourth series victory at Attica gave him sole possession of the second most all-time – only one away from matching Donny Schatz’s record tally of five. He’s also only one away from matching Schatz in total Brad Doty Classic wins. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion added to his astounding recent résumé at Attica with his fifth trip to victory lane in the last six starts.
“I can’t believe nobody has gone back-to-back in the long history of this race, so that’s pretty special for sure,” Larson said. “Paul (Silva) definitely has the tune up for Attica. We’re always really fast when we come here nobody what series we’re in.”
The Brad Doty Classic
After marching his way from fourth to second in the Toyota Racing Dash, Larson lined up outside the front row for the 40-lap feature. The high line proved to be advantageous when the green lights came on as he powered around James McFadden for the lead.
“Being good all throughout the night really helps at Attica because it’s hard to see when you’re out there,” Larson explained. “Thankfully for me I got the lead and you can at least see for about eight laps and then you catch traffic and it’s really tough.”
An early restart with two laps complete allowed Sheldon Haudenschild to rip the cushion by McFadden into second.
Haudenschild refused to let Larson escape, but Larson refused to let Haudenschild get too close. Each time a restart happened Larson would pull away slightly but Haudenschild kept him within his sights. Whenever the duo entered traffic, Haudenschild would close in before Larson cleared a slower car to add some cushion.
Even though he appeared to work through traffic pretty well, Larson still found navigating it to be highly challenging.
“I was making mistakes in (turns) three and four because I would catch traffic or start to see them, and I’d slow down and try to drive easier,” Larson said. “Then I wouldn’t get my wheel spin when I needed and get swallowed up in the cushion. I wasn’t sure where Sheldon was behind me, but I figured he’d having a hard time seeing as well. When I got to the back bumper of traffic, that was really tough. The cushion in (turns) one and two was really tall right in the center, taller than it typically is. And then on exit there was nothing, and you couldn’t see it. They were blowing across the bottom, and all the dust would end up at the top of the race track.”
One final strong restart with nine laps to go sealed the deal as Larson cruised away to his 30th career World of Outlaws victory.
“Things just worked out again,” Larson said. “But you have to have a great car to put yourself in position all night long. Thanks again to Paul.”
Haudenschild hung on for second to record his best Brad Doty Classic finish and also his fifth top five at Attica in series competition. The result marked the Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing driver’s second consecutive podium.
“We’ll keep working for sure. We want to win Doty’s race bad,” Haudenschild said. “My car was great there, and I kept Larson honest that whole time until the last restart really. I just got tight on the cushion…. It’s way more fun when you’re up here on the podium, so we’ll just keep working.”
Arising from a chaotic battle to complete the top three was Carson Macedo. Like Haudenschild, Macedo’s effort was a second straight result on the podium.
“I talked to (team members) Philip (Dietz), Clyde (Knipp), Nate (Repetz), and I feel like they did an incredible job,” Macedo said. “We did a pretty good job. It was a dog fight the whole race.”
Donny Schatz and David Gravel rounded out the top five.
Gravel’s top five, while Brad Sweet finished 15th elevated Gravel into the points lead for the third time this season. His advantage sits at eight markers over Sweet.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[14]; 5. 2-David Gravel[8]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise[19]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 8. 83-James McFadden[1]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[21]; 10. 71-Shane Stewart[6]; 11. 29-Cole Macedo[17]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[9]; 13. 9P-Parker Price Miller[7]; 14. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[11]; 15. 49-Brad Sweet[13]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston[12]; 17. 55X-Daryn Pittman[15]; 18. 3J-Trey Jacobs[10]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne[20]; 20. (DNF) 35-Stuart Brubaker[23]; 21. (DNF) 22-Brandon Spithaler[22]; 22. (DNF) 99-Skylar Gee[16]; 23. (DNF) 1A-Jacob Allen[25]; 24. (DNF) 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[24]; 25. (DNF) 55-Kerry Madsen[18]