Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – SARVER, PA – Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson is certainly no stranger to victory lane with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1, and that statement certainly proved true yet again on Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pennsylvania, earning a second consecutive Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup triumph for a $25,000 top prize.
The former NASCAR Cup Series champion secured his eventual Silver Cup victory from the front row, driving by race-long leader and Roth Motorsports ace, Buddy Kofoid, on lap 19 of 30. The Series win bumps Larson’s career total to 29, two of which accomplished during the 2023 season.
As noted, Larson was forced to battle by Buddy Kofoid for the Lernerville victory, keeping pace with his fellow California native for the first 18 laps before pouncing the following circuit. Larson closed-in on Kofoid’s tail tank by lap 16, racing nose to tail with the Roth Motorsports No. 83JR for the next two laps before utilizing a slingshot move into turn one on lap 19.
From that point forward, it was the Kyle Larson Show at The Action Track, quickly stretching his legs while simultaneously using lapped cars as blockers to keep his distance on the field.
Brent Marks, who started fifth on the grid, would race on to finish second to Larson, followed by Justin Peck, Buddy Kofoid, and Tim Shaffer.
A very late race battle for second would see Brent Marks and Buddy Kofoid exchange positions on multiple occasions including back-to-back sliders on laps 28 and 29. The final lap would see Marks and Peck each sneak by Kofoid.
There were two cautions during the 30-lap contest, one of which on the opening circuit forcing a complete restart; caution lights would return again on lap nine.
“I love coming here,” Kyle Larson, ace of the Folkens Brothers Trucking, FloRacing, Durst, No. 57 sprint car, said. “Buddy [Kofoid] actually got away from me a little more than I would have liked on that last restart. It kinda made me nervous, but I was able to focus on my line and build momentum to close in. Once I got the lead, I was able to move and search around. It was really slick. I think the track actually got better for me as the race went on. Things started to clean off and I was able to really build some momentum.”
The All Stars’ July campaign will continue due west with a three-race schedule through Iowa and Illinois on Friday through Sunday, July 21-23, beginning with a visit to the always-exciting 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Friday, July 21. The $7,000-to-win headliner will be flanked with Spoon River Speedway’s inaugural NOS Energy Drink presents The Rumble on the River on Saturday, July 22, followed by a visit to Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois, on Sunday, July 23. Each of the stops in the Land of Lincoln, Spoon River and Red Hill, will award $8,000 top prizes.
Contingency Awards/Results: Lernerville Speedway | July 18, 2023:
Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup | $25,000-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 41
Macri Concrete/Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Tim Shaffer | 13.696
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Kerry Madsen | 13.558
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Justin Peck
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Sam Hafertepe Jr.
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Brent Marks
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Anthony Macri
Mobil 1 Heat #5 Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Kasey Kahne
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Zeb Wise
Tezos A-Main Winner: Kyle Larson
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Cory Eliason (+10)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Craig Mintz
Tezos A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[5]; 3. 13-Justin Peck[4]; 4. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[1]; 5. 45-Tim Shaffer[3]; 6. 7BC-Anthony Macri[6]; 7. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 8. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[14]; 9. 11-Cory Eliason[19]; 10. 23-Devon Borden[9]; 11. 2F-AJ Flick[12]; 12. 09-Craig Mintz[18]; 13. 21T-Cole Macedo[11]; 14. 12-Billy Dietrich[20]; 15. 101-Cody Maroske[15]; 16. 29-Sye Lynch[13]; 17. 29S-Dan Shetler[24]; 18. 4-Chris Windom[16]; 19. 26-Zeb Wise[25]; 20. 81-Lee Jacobs[23]; 21. 55-Kerry Madsen[7]; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler[17]; 23. 9-Kasey Kahne[21]; 24. (DNF) 19P-Trent Pigdon[10]; 25. (DNF) 6S-Ryan Smith[22] LAP LEADERS: Buddy Kofoid (1-18), Kyle Larson (19-30)
Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 9-Kasey Kahne[3]; 2. 6S-Ryan Smith[4]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[2]; 4. 29S-Dan Shetler[6]; 5. 26-Zeb Wise[5]; 6. 12X-Brent Shearer[7]; 7. 29F-Zeth Sabo[9]; 8. 20B-Cody Bova[1]; 9. 2-Ricky Peterson[11]; 10. 32B-Dale Blaney[8]; 11. 7NY-Matt Farnham[21]; 12. 33-Brent Matus[10]; 13. 6-Bob Felmlee[14]; 14. 11B-Carl Bowser[15]; 15. 26AU-Todd Moule[20]; 16. 97-JJ Hickle[13]; 17. 39-Cameron Smith[12]; 18. 28M-Conner Morrell[16]; 19. 13B-Steve Bright[18]; 20. 4K-Kip Edwards[19]; 21. (DNF) 13M-Brandon Matus[17]
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps): 1. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[4]; 4. 13-Justin Peck[5]; 5. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 6. 7BC-Anthony Macri[6]; 7. 55-Kerry Madsen[10]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 9. 23-Devon Borden[9]; 10. 19P-Trent Pigdon[7]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Justin Peck[1]; 2. 21T-Cole Macedo[2]; 3. 55-Kerry Madsen[4]; 4. 11-Cory Eliason[6]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[5]; 7. 39-Cameron Smith[9]; 8. 20B-Cody Bova[3]; 9. 7NY-Matt Farnham[8]
CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 101-Cody Maroske[2]; 3. 09-Craig Mintz[3]; 4. 19P-Trent Pigdon[4]; 5. 12X-Brent Shearer[7]; 6. 29F-Zeth Sabo[6]; 7. 97-JJ Hickle[5]; 8. 13B-Steve Bright[8]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 2. 2F-AJ Flick[5]; 3. 4-Chris Windom[2]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 5. 6S-Ryan Smith[3]; 6. 32B-Dale Blaney[6]; 7. 11B-Carl Bowser[7]; 8. 4K-Kip Edwards[8]
Kistler Racing Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Anthony Macri[1]; 2. 29-Sye Lynch[5]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[4]; 4. 12-Billy Dietrich[3]; 5. 26-Zeb Wise[2]; 6. 33-Brent Matus[6]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[7]; 8. 26AU-Todd Moule[8]
Mobil 1 Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[1]; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[2]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler[3]; 4. 23-Devon Borden[4]; 5. 29S-Dan Shetler[5]; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson[7]; 7. 6-Bob Felmlee[6]; 8. (DNF) 13M-Brandon Matus[8]
Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.558[5]; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 00:13.749[8]; 3. 21T-Cole Macedo, 00:13.768[7]; 4. 20B-Cody Bova, 00:13.816[1]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:13.828[18]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs, 00:13.844[2]; 7. 11-Cory Eliason, 00:13.846[3]; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 00:13.939[19]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:14.008[4]; 10. 4-Chris Windom, 00:14.027[21]; 11. 7NY-Matt Farnham, 00:14.085[9]; 12. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:14.139[32]; 13. 7BC-Anthony Macri, 00:14.149[30]; 14. 19P-Trent Pigdon, 00:14.227[10]; 15. 6S-Ryan Smith, 00:14.256[22]; 16. 2F-AJ Flick, 00:14.270[24]; 17. 23-Devon Borden, 00:14.334[35]; 18. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:14.356[26]; 19. 83JR-Michael Kofoid, 00:14.399[40]; 20. 32B-Dale Blaney, 00:14.416[25]; 21. 39-Cameron Smith, 00:14.465[6]; 22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:14.513[17]; 23. 12-Billy Dietrich, 00:14.619[33]; 24. 29-Sye Lynch, 00:14.676[29]; 25. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 00:14.688[41]; 26. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 00:14.743[36]; 27. 101-Cody Maroske, 00:14.802[14]; 28. 97-JJ Hickle, 00:14.809[13]; 29. 09-Craig Mintz, 00:14.875[15]; 30. 29F-Zeth Sabo, 00:14.878[11]; 31. 29S-Dan Shetler, 00:14.962[37]; 32. 6-Bob Felmlee, 00:14.989[38]; 33. 13M-Brandon Matus, 00:15.036[39]; 34. 11B-Carl Bowser, 00:15.171[23]; 35. 2-Ricky Peterson, 00:15.187[34]; 36. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:15.193[27]; 37. 33-Brent Matus, 00:15.221[28]; 38. 12X-Brent Shearer, 00:15.411[12]; 39. 26AU-Todd Moule, 00:15.594[31]; 40. 13B-Steve Bright, 00:15.883[16]; 41. 4K-Kip Edwards, 00:16.118[20]