Kyle Larson beats All Stars and Pennsylvania Posse for second consecutive Tommy Hinnershitz Classic crown
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (April 16, 2021) – Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson is officially perfect in a winged sprint car thus far in 2021, as the NASCAR Cup Series hotshoe for Hendrick Motorsports made his first sprint car start of the season on Friday evening at Williams Grove Speedway and ultimately concluded his attempt in fantastic fashion, scoring a second consecutive Tommy Hinnershitz Classic crown against a stout field of full-time FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 travelers, and the infamous Pennsylvania Posse. The $6,000 Hinnershitz victory bumped Larson’s career win total with “America’s Series” to 24, his first since Lincoln’s Dirt Classic triumph in September.
Larson started second on Friday evening at the world-famous paperclip, joining Central Pennsylvania legend, Lance Dewease, on the front row after winning the second of two All Star Circuit of Champions dashes. Taking a backseat to Dewease after the initial start, it would only take nine and a half laps for Larson to find a way around the National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, eventually using the topside of turns one and two to slingshot by the pilot of the familiar No. 69K. From that point forward, the 30-lap contest was the “Larson Show,” driving on to separate himself from Dewease to secure an inevitable celebratory wing dance.
“I really used to hate this place,” Kyle Larson said in a joking manner in Williams Grove Speedway victory lane. “When I first started coming here, I struggled. I had a hard time getting around it. But Paul (Silva) has a really good program worked out here and I think we have some things figured out for the better. I can’t say enough about everyone who helps out on this team. We have some Pennsylvania connections, so it feels good to get a win right in their backyard.”
There were only two cautions during the 30-lap Hinnershitz Classic main event, the first on lap four and a second on lap 11, which immediately followed Larson’s jump to the front. The caution on lap 11 gave Larson the breather that he needed, as the pilot the Folkens Brothers Trucking, MAVTV, JVI Group, Durst Industries, No. 57 sprint car was about to hit a wall of slower cars. The momentum break allowed for a fresh start and clean air, and although Larson would eventually reach traffic again on lap 17, the recent Cup Series winner never faltered.
“I was able to move around in traffic really well,” Larson added. “I could adjust my entry to move around traffic and not really lose any momentum. You don’t have the luxury of knowing what’s going on behind you, so you just have to focus on what’s ahead and go where the cars aren’t.”
Lance Dewease held on to finish second on Friday evening, followed by Freddie Rahmer, Ian Madsen, and Anthony Macri.
All Star Circuit of Champions action will continue on Saturday, April 17, with the $10,000-to-win Keith Kauffman Classic at Port Royal Speedway. The Series will then conclude their four-race stretch with the Johnny Grum Classic at Bedford Speedway on Sunday, April 18.
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Contingency Awards/Results: Williams Grove Speedway – Friday, April 16, 2021
Event: Tommy Hinnershitz Classic
Entries: 35
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Lance Dewease – 17.198
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Lance Dewease – 16.316
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Ian Madsen
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Tony Stewart
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Kerry Madsen
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Tim Shaffer
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Lance Dewease
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Kyle Larson
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Brent Shearer
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Chase Dietz
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Brent Marks (+11)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease, 16.316; 2. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 16.562; 3. 35H-Zach Hampton, 16.714; 4. 11-Ian Madsen, 16.761; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.840; 6. 8M-TJ Michael, 16.940; 7. 1W-Brandon Rahmer, 17.092; 8. 11T-TJ Stutts, 17.189; 9. 21-Matt Campbell, 17.341
Group (B)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.515; 2. 23-Paul McMahan, 16.700; 3. 14-Tony Stewart, 16.882; 4. O7-Lucas Wolfe, 16.980; 5. 17-Steve Buckwalter, 17.051; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 17.054; 7. 5-Brent Marks, 17.077; 8. 24R-Rico Abreu, 17.094; 9. 4-Cap Henry, 17.279
Group (C)
1. 39M-Anthony Macri, 16.547; 2. 10-Zeb Wise, 16.557; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.712; 4. 24-Kerry Madsen, 16.721; 5. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 16.778; 6. 19m-Landon Myers, 16.812; 7. 55K-Robbie Kendall, 16.899; 8. 12-Brent Shearer, 16.917; 9. 27s-Alan Krimes, 17.126
Group (D)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 16.733; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 16.845; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 16.961; 4. 72-Tim Shaffer, 16.985; 5. 39-Chase Dietz, 17.101; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 17.105; 7. 1X-Chad Trout, 17.118; 8. 99M-Kyle Moody, 17.135
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 11-Ian Madsen [1]; 2. 35H-Zach Hampton [2]; 3. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease [4]; 6. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 7. 21-Matt Campbell [9]; 8. 11T-TJ Stutts [8]; 9. 1W-Brandon Rahmer [7]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 23-Paul McMahan [3]; 3. O7-Lucas Wolfe [1]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 5. 17-Steve Buckwalter [5]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 7. 4-Cap Henry [9]; 8. 24R-Rico Abreu [8]; 9. 5-Brent Marks [7]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 24-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 4. 5C-Dylan Cisney [5]; 5. 55K-Robbie Kendall [7]; 6. 12-Brent Shearer [8]; 7. 19M-Landon Myers [6]; 8. 27S-Alan Krimes [9]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 72-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]; 4. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 6. 39-Chase Dietz [5]; 7. 99M-Kyle Moody [8]; 8. 1X-Chad Trout [7]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease [1]; 2. 51-Freddie Rahmer [2]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [3]; 4. 24-Kerry Madsen [4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 2. 11-Ian Madsen [1]; 3. 72-Tim Shaffer [5]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [3]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 12-Brent Shearer [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 5. 39-Chase Dietz [5]; 6. 5-Brent Marks [13]; 7. 21-Matt Campbell [8]; 8. 11T-TJ Stutts [12]; 9. 99M-Kyle Moody [6]; 10. 8M-TJ Michael [3]; 11. 1W-Brandon Rahmer [14]; 12. 24R-Rico Abreu [9]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [1]; 3. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 4. 11-Ian Madsen [4]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [5]; 6. 14-Tony Stewart [8]; 7. 72-Tim Shaffer [6]; 8. 24-Kerry Madsen [7]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [9]; 10. 23-Paul McMahan [11]; 11. 10-Zeb Wise [10]; 12. 13-Justin Peck [17]; 13. 5-Brent Marks [24]; 14. 26-Cory Eliason [16]; 15. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [13]; 16. 35H-Zach Hampton [12]; 17. 5C-Dylan Cisney [15]; 18. 39-Chase Dietz [27]; 19. 17-Steve Buckwalter [19]; 20. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [20]; 21. O7-Lucas Wolfe [14]; 22. 11T-TJ Stutts [25]; 23. 12-Brent Shearer [21]; 24. 4-Cap Henry [23]; 25. 8M-TJ Michael [26]; 26. 17B-Bill Balog [22]; 27. 48-Danny Dietrich [28]; 28. 55K-Robbie Kendall [18] Lap Leaders: Lance Dewease (1-9), Kyle Larson (10-30)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 4/16/21):
1. Justin Peck – 420
2. Zeb Wise – 408
3. Tyler Courtney – 400
4. Brent Marks – 396
5. Ian Madsen – 392
6. Hunter Schuerenberg – 374
7. Cory Eliason – 374
8. Cap Henry – 352
9. Kyle Reinhardt – 348
10. Lucas Wolfe – 342
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
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Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo Credit: Jason Brown Motorsports Photography