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Larson Dominates Second Straight Gold Cup Race of Champions

The Californian laps up to seventh place in his second career World of Outlaws win

CHICO, Calif. - Sept. 8, 2012 - Kyle Larson climbed onto his top wing, set his feet and shot his arms toward the sky as confetti blanketed his sprint car.

A chorus of cheers reverberated around Silver Dollar Speedway during the celebration, which Larson structured well. After all, the California native had plenty of time to orchestrate it while cruising to his second consecutive Gold Cup Race of Champions victory on a warm Saturday evening.

Larson lapped up to seventh place and beat World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship leader Donny Schatz by nearly seven seconds to pocket the $20,000 prize in the 59th edition of the prestigious event.

"I don't know if we could have been any better at all," Larson said. "We could really maneuver around the bottom or the top and get through traffic pretty easily. That's just all Paul Silva right there. He's one of the greatest and I'm just so lucky to be able to drive for him. It's even cooler to have Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation on the side of the car and to get a win for those guys.

"To get two in a row makes it feel even better and hopefully we can come back out next year and go for the three-peat."

California was well represented from the initial green flag. Tim Kaeding powered around Schatz on the opening lap and held a sizeable advantage until his left front wheel came off the car as he entered turn one on lap four. It spun him out to cause the first of three cautions and Kaeding was unable to continue.

That gave Schatz the lead, which he maintained before Larson hunted him down. As the duo entered turn one on lap eight, Larson slid Schatz for the top spot. One lap later, Shane Golobic flipped in turn three just as Larson was nearing traffic.

Once the race resumed, Larson quickly built a solid advantage until he had a close call on lap 15 as he was about to lap Jason Statler. Statler's car bounced in the ruts and kicked sideways on the bottom of turn two, forcing Larson to swerve up the track as the caution lights blinked.

It only took four laps after the restart for Larson to reach traffic, which never seemed to slow him. As the laps clicked on the scoreboard, Larson continued to increase his lead and lap cars. By the time the checkered flag was waved, Larson ended only a handful of feet away from putting two more top-10 cars a lap down.

"We had a pretty respectable race car here tonight," Schatz said after finishing second. "Kyle was a lot better and got through traffic a lot better."

Fellow Californian Sean Becker, who claimed his first career World of Outlaws feature win on Friday at Silver Dollar Speedway, rounded out the podium.

"When it comes to the actual Gold Cup main event, everybody is going to bring their 'A' game," he said. "To be able to finish third with these guys is quite an accomplishment. I'm very proud of this team.

"California was represented real well this year I thought at the Gold Cup. Hopefully we continue it on and try to give the Outlaws a run for their money."

Jason Sides finished fourth and Sammy Swindell recorded his 27th top five of the season. Jonathan Allard drove from 13th to sixth and Kyle Hirst earned the KSE Hard Charger Award after maneuvering from 17th to seventh. Joey Saldana placed eighth, Lucas Wolfe was ninth and Craig Dollansky rounded out the top 10.

Hirst claimed the Last Chance Showdown and Andy Gregg won the C Main.

59th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions Notebook

CONTINGENCY WINNERS - Penske Shocks ($100 certificate): Jac Haudenschild; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; Comp Cams ($50 certificate): Donny Schatz; Armor All (case of product): Sean Becker; STP ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; UNOH ($50 cash): Sammy Swindell; Gravely Tractors ($50 cash): Kyle Hirst; VP Racing Fuel ($50 cash): Lucas Wolfe; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Jac Haudenschild; JE Pistons (set of rings): Jac Haudenschild; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Jac Haudenschild; Wix Filters ($50 cash): Kerry Madsen; Superflow ($50 cash): Tyler Wolf; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Cody Lamar; JE Pistons (set of rings): Bill Rose; MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Tim Kaeding; Klotz Synthetic Lubricants ($50 cash): Cody Lamar.

WINNERS - Sammy Swindell - 11 (Grays Harbor Raceway on Aug. 29, Castrol Raceway on Aug. 25, River Cities Speedway on Aug. 17, Autodrome Granby on July 27, Eldora Speedway on July 14, Lakeside Speedway on June 30, Red River Valley Speedway on June 16, Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Donny Schatz - 8 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 6, Nodak Speedway on Aug. 19, Junction Motor Speedway on Aug. 14, Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 11, Cornwall Motor Speedway on July 29, Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Craig Dollansky - 7 (Castrol Raceway on Aug. 24, Lebanon Valley Speedway on July 22, Lernerville Speedway on July 17, I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Kerry Madsen - 5 (Willamette Speedway on Sept. 3, Skagit Speedway on Aug. 31, Limaland Motorsports Park on July 11, Belleville High Banks on June 29 and Knoxville Raceway on June 9); Joey Saldana - 5 (Autodrome Drummond on July 28, Eldora Speedway on July 13, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Kraig Kinser - 4 (Beaver Dam Raceway on July 7, Dodge City Raceway Park on June 23, River Cities Speedway on June 15 and Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Tim Kaeding - 3 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 6, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Steve Kinser - 3 (Dodge City Raceway Park on June 22, Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Chad Kemenah - 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Tony Stewart - 2 (Ohsweken Speedway on July 31 and Lernerville Speedway on July 17); Sean Becker - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 7); Cody Darrah - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 21); Danny Dietrich - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 3); Travis Jacobson - 1 (Skagit Speedway on Sept. 1); Kyle Larson - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 8); Danny Lasoski - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18); Paul McMahan - 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet - 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8) and Lucas Wolfe - 1 (Bloomington Speedway on Aug. 3).

WE'RE ONLINE - Make sure to check out WorldofOutlaws.com for the latest news and results, plus exclusive driver interviews, video and pictures. Also listen to every event live at DIRTVision.com .

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