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Kyle Larson returning to Eldora for Truck race

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 - Practice

SPARTA, KY - JULY 08: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Target Chevrolet, stands in the garage area during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on July 8, 2016 in Sparta, Kentucky. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

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After a year’s absence, Kyle Larson will return to Eldora Speedway for the July 20 Camping World Truck Series race at the half-mile dirt track in Rossburg, Ohio, according to NASCAR.com.

Larson will drive in the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby for GMS Racing in a truck sponsored by DC Solar. The Sprint Cup driver competed in the Truck series’ race at Martinsville Speedway earlier this year for the team that fields the trucks of Johnny Sauter and Spencer Gallagher.

Larson only has 11 Truck starts on his record, but two of those came in the first two races at Eldora in 2013 and 2014. Competing for the late Steve Turner in both events, Larson finished second to Austin Dillon in 2013. Then in 2014, Larson provided one of the more exciting 26th-place finishes.

After a restart with 18 laps to go, Larson used up all of his No. 32 truck trying to catch leader Darrell Wallace Jr. Those watching were introduced to Larson’s love of riding the outside wall, as he repeatedly bounced off it for 15 laps, damaging the right side of his truck while managing to maintain speed.

But his impact with the frontstretch wall with three laps left was the last straw, crippling his truck as Wallace went on to win.

While it was fun for those watching, it wasn’t for Larson.

“I don’t know; I honestly didn’t have a ton of fun” Larson told NASCAR.com. “It was slick and slow. I guess I made it exciting to watch on TV, hitting the wall and stuff. … This year with Rico (Abreu) running and (Christopher) Bell being in it, and I thought there would be some more of those guys in it, I just thought it’d be fun to get back out and run the race again.”

Bell is the defending winner of the Eldora race and Abreu, a close friend of Larson’s and a two-time winner of the Chili Bowl, will be making his first Truck start on the dirt track.

Larson has one win in the Truck series at Rockingham Speedway in 2013. He finished fourth at Martinsville in April.

Follow @DanielMcFadin