BRANDON, S.D. (Inside Line Promotions) — Kyle Larson emerged victorious by less than one tenth of a second on Wednesday at Huset’s Speedway during the Huset’s Hustle preliminary night, which was the opening round of the four-day BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards.
The Huset’s Hustle finale is Thursday with the feature winner earning $100,000. The gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 7 p.m. The remainder of the BillionAuto.com Huset’s High Bank Nationals presented by Menards on Friday and Saturday concludes with a whopping $250,000 top prize on Saturday.
Spencer Bayston, who is the high-points driver out of the 60 competitors who entered the marquee World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event, led the first 15 laps of the 35-lap main event on Wednesday.
Larson started fourth and advanced to third place on Lap 2. Five laps later, he maneuvered into the runner-up position. A red flag on Lap 16 for a violent crash by Jy Corbet bunched the field together for the restart and Larson took advantage, sliding in front of Bayston in turns one and two and then dropping to the bottom entering turn three to protect from a return slide job by Bayston.
Larson led the final 20 laps, but Bayston stayed close and rapidly reeled Larson in during the final two laps when the leader dropped back to the bottom lane in traffic. Bayston stayed committed to the cushion and cut the deficit to just over a quarter of a second as the white flag was waved. He continued to inch closer and the momentum propelled Bayston to the rear of Larson’s car as the duo crossed the finish line with the winning margin at only 0.085 seconds.
“I was watching the big screen and I could see a white car on the bottom with me and a darker car up top,” Larson said. “I figured it was Spencer. The margin for error was just too much up there.
“Fun race there. Really, really technical cushion. Good to get back on track here and hopefully we can carry it on to some more wins.”
The victory was Larson’s third career World of Outlaws win at Huset’s Speedway and it marked his fourth triumph of the season with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt.’ Also of note, Larson is the eighth different winner in a row during World of Outlaws races at Huset’s Speedway since 2023.
Bayston’s second-place finish was his best result of the season.
“I felt we were the car to beat there,” he said after recalling the mid-race restart when the lead changed. “It’s been a tough year for us. We haven’t had the performance that we’ve always really wanted, but this is a good start to a big week. It’ll set us up good for tomorrow.”
Michael ‘Buddy’ Kofoid advanced from eighth to fourth place in the first half of the race before passing World of Outlaws points leader David Gravel for the final spot on the podium on Lap 24.
“I felt better on the bottom,” Kofoid said. “They got to racing and I think that let me get back to them. As they were racing I was kinda able to take advantage of that. A good car on the bottom for sure. I felt maybe we could have been a tick better on the top. I wish we didn’t draw that eight (during the feature redraw). I felt we had a car that could contend to win. Good night, good points.”
Gravel placed fourth and Garet Williamson rounded out the top five.
Rico Abreu was the quickest qualifier overall with Kofoid joining him as quick time in their group sessions. The heat races were won by Giovanni Scelzi, Corbet, Conner Morrell, Tim Kaeding, Hunter Schuerenberg and Christopher Bell. Mark Dobmeier topped the C Main and Brad Sweet won the Last Chance Showdown.
Bayston leads Larson and Kofoid by four points following the Huset’s Hustle preliminary night. Gravel is 10 points behind Bayston with Williamson 16 points back. Bill Balog and Anthony Macri are both 23 points out of the top spot with Scelzi and Tanner Thorson both 31 points behind Bayston. Kaeding ranks 10th in the points standings – 34 markers back.
Follow the World of Outlaws social media accounts for the official Huset’s Hustle preliminary night points standings and the lineups for Thursday’s $100,000-to-win program.
Tickets for races throughout this weekend are on sale online at https://mpv.tickets.com/schedule/?agency=JKMV_PL_MPV&orgid=55369#/?view=list&includePackages=true.
