Kyle Larson Surges From Lap Behind To Win Trucks Race At Eldora

Kyle Larson rallied from a lap down to emerge victorious in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on Wednesday night.

Kyle Larson Surges From Lap Behind To Win Trucks Race At Eldora

The 23-year-old driver of the #24 DC Solar Chevrolet Silverado had a flat right rear tire while leading about a third of the way through the Aspen Dental Dirt Derby 150 in its top three series. However, after his tire mishap on Turn 4 of Lap 52, Larson regained the lead with a free pass on a caution and rapidly worked his way to the front.

After he lost the tire, NASCAR ruled that Larson purposely brought out the caution by spinning across the front-stretch, which resulted in a one-lap penalty.

“I knew we’d get the Lucky Dog,” Larson said about the free pass. “I just didn’t know that I could get back to the top three as quick as I did.”

The GMS Racing driver held off Christopher Bell, the Oklahoma dirt racer who won last year for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Larson led 48 of 150 laps on the half-mile clay oval owned by Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart. 

Bobby Pierce, the leader for 102 laps, finished 24 laps down in 25th after battling Larson for the No. 1 spot. The 19-year-old driver hit the wall and also had a flat right rear tire on his MB Motorsports entry.

“The carburetor was flooded and I couldn’t get off the corner at all. Larson drove a great race,” Pierce said. “When that happened on the restart, I caught him a little bit, he hit the wall and I tried to slide him. I went in there a little too hard, it was super-slick and I got the wall and knocked the right rear off the rim and that was that.”

The win marked Larson’s second Truck Series victory in 12 career starts. He also has four wins in the second-tier Xfinity Series, winning this year at Pocono.

“It just worked out where I got by Bell when he got in the wall and I think Bobby had a gear issue,” Larson said. “He was definitely better than I was for sure.”

Larson then added how much the victory meant to him.

“I love to be back here on dirt,” said Larson in Victory Lane. “This definitely means a lot, especially losing the way I did the two (previous) years I ran here.”

He finished .767 seconds ahead of Bell.

“We got going pretty good there for a while,” Bell said. “But the more it got built up on the fence … the worse we got.”

Rico Abreu, 24, who drove a ThorSport Racing Toyota, also rallied from a lap down to finish third.

Jake Griffin was fourth, followed by Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Cameron Hayley, Daniel Hemric, Austin Wayne Self and Matt Crafton. 

William Byron placed 14th, but led in points. He held a nine-point lead over second-place Crafton.

ROSSBURG, OH – JULY 20: Kyle Larson, driver of the #24 DC Solar Chevrolet, races during NASCAR Camping World Series 4th Annual Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150, at Eldora Speedway on July 20, 2016 in Rossburg, Ohio. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)