In the dawn of a new era for the High Limit Racing Sprint Car Series, which is co-owned by NASCAR star Kyle Larson and dirt superstar Brad Sweet, the series opened up its first start of the season with night 1 at the LVMS Dirt Track and provided thrilling action not only in the A-main but also in the heat races. At the end of the night, it was NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson who fended off a young racer in the making and Hendrick Motorsports developmental Corey Day in the waning laps of the 25-lap feature by 0.096 seconds.
37 entries were seen Thursday night, including defending High Limit Sprint Car champion Rico Abreu. Abreu, who recently competed for his own team in the past few years, made the transition over to Tony Stewart Racing during the off-season.
In the A-main feature, the No. 19 Brent Marks started on the pole, taking the inside row, and Spire Motorsports, Giovanni Scelzi, who piloted the No. 77 Chilis machine, took the outside row, lining up in the second position, led the field to green. Larson started in the fifth position.
Quickly, Thorson made the move on Marks to take second in the early going on Lap 1. However, both Thorson and Marks battled it out multiple times for the second spot, allowing Day to close in. With 19 to go, Day got past Thorson for third. Afterward, Day got stuck with Marks, who then saw eventual race winner Larson to insert himself in the picture, making it a three-race battle for the third position. At 14 to go, Larson made easy work of both Day and Marks, passing them and then set his eyes on race leader Scelzi. As he was doing so, Day eventually passed Marks for third and attempted to chase Larson down as well.
Shortly after the leaders passed the start/finish line with eight laps to go, Larson made the dive bomb move into Turn 1 and took the lead from Scelzi. The next lap later, Day got by Scelzi for second and tried battling with Larson for the lead. There were a few times that saw lap traffic get in Larson’s way, which then had Day right there in the picture. On the last lap of the race, Day went to the top side of Turns 3 and 4 and nearly got by Larson for the win, but ultimately came up 0.096 seconds short of the victory. Larson piloted the No. 57 Silva Motorsports entry for his 10th career High Limit Racing victory in a caution-free main event.
“It felt like we were going longer than 25 (laps) there,” Larson said in victory lane on the fronstretch. “I kept looking at the flagstand because I could feel some pressure from behind. The lapper in front of me, he was kind of changing his mind a couple of different times and I followed him. I knew I choked up my momentum. Like, I said, I was just counting the laps down. Thankfully, it worked out. I saw a nose coming with two to go and the white flag. So I figured if it was Gio or Corey, they were building a run up top or something behind me through (Turns) 3 and 4. I also didn’t want to give up that distance into three because they could’ve split me. I thought the safest thing was to stay committed to what I was doing. Great car and cool to get back to victory lane with High Limit. Thanks to the fans for coming out, I look forward to the crowd getting bigger and bigger throughout the weekend.”
Despite coming up short, Day provided the fans with a thriller in the final few laps.
“No, I didn’t think I got him (Larson),” Day said in his post-race interview. “I didn’t think it was that close. I thought we had already crossed the line and dipped below him there. Yeah, that’s cool, but wished we would have been on the other side of it. Thanks to my guys. It’s always cool to come to the first race of the year and have a fast car and have a good run. Thanks to all my sponsors and partners. It’s going to be a fun year for me doing some full-time NASCAR stuff and still get to comeback to race with High Limit, and the team that I’ve done (Sprint Car) with for many years. A lot of fun.”
Larson, Day, Scelzi, Marks, Thorson, Timms, Abreu, Madsen, Kyle McFadden, and Reutzel rounded out the Top 10 finishers.
Heat race winners include Abreu, Marks, Timms, and Scelzi. The B-feature winner went to Tyler Courtney. Brent Marks won the dash race, which allowed him to start on the pole in the A-feature.
At the conclusion of night 1, Scelzi leads the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing championship standings over Marks by three points.
Official Results Following Night 1 of High Limit Racing at the LVMS Dirt Track.
- Kyle Larson
- Corey Day
- Giovanni Scelzi
- Brent Marks
- Tanner Thorson
- Ryan Timms
- Rico Abreu
- Kerry Madsen
- James McFadden
- Aaron Reutzel
- Justin Sanders
- Daison Pursley
- Justin Peck
- Austin McCarl
- Sye Lynch
- Tanner Holmes
- Tyler Courtney
- Hank Davis
- Chase Randall
- Danny Sams III
- Hunter Schuerenberg
- Brenham Crouch
- Kaleb Montgomery
- Tanner Carrick
