USAC: Larson Sweeps 4-Crown

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USAC: Larson Sweeps 4-Crown

The 19-year-old Californian swept USAC's 4 Crown Nationals in a performance that even left Eldora owner Tony Stewart in awe.

Robin Miller | Posted September 25, 2011

Larson's mercurial rise has people wondering how far the 19-year-old Californian could go in other forms of motorsport. (John Mahoney)

Kyle Larson had never turned a lap at the famed Eldora Speedway until Saturday afternoon, which makes what he did Saturday night even more jaw dropping unbelievable.

The 19-year-old Californian swept USAC's 4 Crown Nationals in a performance that even left Eldora owner Tony Stewart in awe.

Starting fourth in the 25-lap midget main, Larson snared the lead on Lap 3 and withstood a charge by Bryan Clauson to win by a straightaway. Then he hopped in the Hoffman brothers sprinter, started 11th and passed USAC legend Dave Darland on the last lap to take the 35-lap sprint feature.

His grand finale wasn't quite as dramatic as Larson started from the pole and led all 50 laps -- holding veteran Levi Jones, the four-time USAC champion who drives for Stewart.

"A kid like this only comes around once every 20 years or so," said Stewart after watching Larson join Jack Hewitt as the only driver to sweep the program in the 31-year history of this event.

"I've now seen the three coolest things here. Hewitt's sweep, Joe Saldana's victory last night (Friday) in the outlaw race after coming back from his bad crash and what this kid did this evening.

"I'm glad I came here instead of watching it on closed circuit back in Loudon. We saw some history tonight."

Keith Kunz, who owns and wrenches the midget and Silver Crown cars for Larson, has had a lot of very good drivers in his cars during the past 30 years but says his latest may be his best yet.

"He reminds me of Tony (Stewart) because he's such a natural but he might even be better at this age," said Kunz, whose Toyota backing enabled he and partner Paul (Willoughby) to hire Larson for 2011.

"To think he'd never turned a lap here before this afternoon and won all three of these races is almost beyond comprehension."

It would be except Larson's last four months have been nothing short of phenomenal. He's won one of the biggest midget races (Belleville Nationals), USAC midget shows on pavement and dirt, a mile dirt race at DuQuoin and a World of Outlaw feature at Chico, Calif.

"It's been amazing and I'm just lucky to drive for such great people like the Kaedings, Hoffmans and Keith," said Larson, who pocketed a $10,000 bonus check from Stewart for his efforts. "I never dreamed of winning all three races here and I had some luck but my cars were fantastic.

"I've been saying winning that outlaw race was my best result ever but I don't know, tonight has to rank pretty high."

Larson's biggest obstacle in the midget race was Clauson, who suggested he approach Kunz about a drive last winter at the Chili Bowl. USAC's overall king from 2010 was reeling in his friend on Lap 7 when he smacked the wall and bent his suspension.
"That was the end of any hope because he just pulled away and I think I bent something as well," said Clauson.

Larson looked to have little chance in the sprint show because he had to start 11th. "I sure didn't think I had a chance after the first 10 laps because I was back in eighth or ninth and wasn't driving well," admitted Larson.

Jones had a massive lead before cutting down a tire and then Chris Windom was on his way to an easy victory when he met the same fate with only two laps left. Suddenly, Larson found himself sitting third behind Darland and Bobby East. He dispatched East for second and then banged off Darland in Turn 2 on the final lap to complete a most unlikely triumph.

"Obviously, a lot of fast guys had problems in front of me and I guess it was just my night," said Larson.

The third and final feature took an hour to complete because of all the yellow flags but Larson survived SEVEN restarts to out-distance Jones.

"I was starting to get mad with all those yellows but I managed to get good restarts and avoid making any big mistakes," he explained.

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.

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