Kyle Larson has got down to business as usual in the two-week Olympic break and gathered up wins in sprint cars. His latest exploit was at the Southern Iowa Speedway where he won the Front Row Challenge on Monday. He reached the victory lane after edging past 18-year-old Corey Day in the No. 57 car owned by Paul Silva. The driver was forced to hit back at a criticism that rose in the wake.
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MRN’s Dave Moody posted the highlights of Monday’s race on his X (formerly Twitter) handle and captioned it, “Let’s just be clear. @KyleLarsonRacin could win in a shopping cart.” While this is the opinion of the majority, not everyone is a fan of Larson or his abilities. One fan, on the other side of the fence, responded, “When you’re able to spend the kind of money he has, I would sure hope so.”
This is when Larson jumped into the conversation. He quoted the fan and put up a video that shows team owner Silva scavenging parts for the No. 57 car from a dumpster and wrote, “This is car owner @Paul_Silva57 dumpster diving for parts to save a tiny bit of money.” He continued to underline that the team had used the old tires of other teams, in a bid to save money, and still reached the victory lane.
Good afternoon @RobsSportsShow. Heres a glimpse into our budget. This is car owner @Paul_Silva57 dumpster diving for parts to save a tiny bit of money. And oh btw we won on another teams used tires the last 3 races. https://t.co/CvHvCCmOpq pic.twitter.com/jOvc5r5RFa
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) August 6, 2024
The driver’s entertaining words have surely removed blemishes from his image. Monday’s victory was the third in four nights for the outfit and him. In addition to the Front Row Challenge, he reached the victory lane in a couple of World of Outlaw sprint car races. The combined success of the Hendrick Motorsports star and Silva comes at a perfect juncture as they prepare to defend their Knoxville Nationals title.
How Corey Day gave Larson a run for his money at Iowa
All through 2024, Larson has been very vocal about his admiration for Day and even expressed that the youngster raced much like he did. This very attribute is what haunted the Cup Series champion as Day made life much harder for him. Through several cautions and restarts, he was all over Larson and barely managed to avoid a big collision with five laps to go.
He eventually fell a place short and had to settle for second. Larson won the event after starting on Row 7 in 13th place and received a prize of $21,000. He did praise Day in the victory lane and touched upon how difficult he’d made things. Day began his maiden full-time season in racing this year as a part of Larson’s High Limit Sprint Car Series. He is one of the highly-rated young prospects in the sport.
