Kyle Larson won the Brad Doty Classic for the second consecutive time after leading every lap around the .333-mile dirt track of Attica (Ohio) Raceway. In doing so, Larson became the first driver in the 34-year history of this race to win back-to-back. Repeat winners are rare with 25 drivers visiting victory lane in the Classic.
Larson took the lead from the outside pole and easily stretched his advantage in the opening laps of each green flag segment. On a track plagued by heavy dust, he slowed and allowed Ohio native Sheldon Haudenschild to close. Each time it appeared the Outlaws regular would be able to catch Larson, a caution waved and set up a fresh set of laps.
“I was making mistakes in (Turns) 3 and 4 because I would catch traffic or start to see them, and I’d slow down and try to drive easier,” Larson said in a press release. “Then I wouldn’t get my wheel spin when I needed and get swallowed up in the cushion.
“I wasn’t sure where Sheldon was behind me, but I figured he’d be having a hard time seeing as well. When I got to the back bumper of traffic, that was really tough. The cushion in (Turns) 1 and 2 was really tall right in the center, taller than it typically is. And then on exit there was nothing, and you couldn’t see it. They were blowing across the bottom, and all the dust would end up at the top of the racetrack.”
To navigate in the harsh conditions, at one point Larson settled on the back bumper of Brad Sweet since he knew that the championship contender was not going to make many mistakes.
Larson’s win was his fourth at Attica in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series, giving him sole possession of second on that list behind Donny Schatz with five.
Starting third, Haudenschild passed pole sitter James McFadden after an early caution. From that point, Haudenschild was the only driver to challenge Larson. Haudenschild’s second-place finish marks his best career performance in this race.
“We’ll keep working for sure,” Haudenschild said. “We want to win Doty’s race bad. My car was great there, and I kept Larson honest that whole time until the last restart really. I just got tight on the cushion…. It’s way more fun when you’re up here on the podium, so we’ll just keep working.”
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Carson Macedo rounded out the podium, giving both him and Haudenschild back-to-back appearances on the box.
McFadden faded to eighth at the checkers.
The night was even tougher for Sweet, who started the race deep in the field in 13th and lost two positions to finish 15th. His closest competitor in the championship, David Gravel finished fifth and took the lead by eight points.
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With his third-place finish, Macedo narrowed the gap to the points leaders and now trails by only 34 points.
With this win, Larson pocketed $15,000 on his way to potentially collecting Tony Stewart’s seven-figure prize in the Eldora Million. The winner of Thursday night’s unsanctioned race at Eldora Speedway will pocket $1,002,023 - the second-richest prize of 2023 behind only the Indy 500.
Results
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz[14]; 5. 2-David Gravel[8]; 6. 26-Zeb Wise[19]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[4]; 8. 83-James McFadden[1]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[21]; 10. 71-Shane Stewart[6]; 11. 29-Cole Macedo[17]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[9]; 13. 9P-Parker Price Miller[7]; 14. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[11]; 15. 49-Brad Sweet[13]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston[12]; 17. 55X-Daryn Pittman[15]; 18. 3J-Trey Jacobs[10]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne[20]; 20. (DNF) 35-Stuart Brubaker[23]; 21. (DNF) 22-Brandon Spithaler[22]; 22. (DNF) 99-Skylar Gee[16]; 23. (DNF) 1A-Jacob Allen[25]; 24. (DNF) 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[24]; 25. (DNF) 55-Kerry Madsen[18]
