Kyle Larson took advantage of a night off from NASCAR to record a dominating performance in the Indiana Midget Week opening race Tuesday at Montpelier (Indiana) Motor Speedway.
Larson, driving for car owner Keith Kunz, set fast time, won his heat and then won the 30-lap feature. Larson also won this event in 2016.
He started the feature sixth and was second by the ninth lap before a caution came out. Larson took the lead from Tucker Klaasmeyer on the restart.
“The restart went perfect,” Larson told usacracing.com. “What I was hoping to do was to get a good run down the front straight and be on his bumper into (turn) one when he peeled off to the bottom and I could have some momentum to get up top. I had a lot of speed around the top, nailed the corner pretty good and was able to clear him down the back straight. I tried not to make too many mistakes. I do a good job of getting overly excited and making mistakes, so I tried to stay calm throughout it.”
The victory was Larson’s fifth career during Indiana Midget Week, tying him with Christopher Bell for second on the all-time list and putting him four behind Bryan Clauson. The victory also was Larson’s 15th career USAC National Midget win, tying him with Don Brandon and Larry Rice for 45th on the all-time win list.
Tyler Courtney finished second to Larson.
Been a while since I got a win! Picked up the 🏁 at Montpelier in the midget. Thanks @KeithKunz @PWilloughby71 for always giving me a car to go have some fun in! Thing gets easier and easier to drive every year 👍🏼 thanks for working hard.
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) May 30, 2018