February 8, 2025 | By Alex Nietem, WOO Sprint Car PR

Kyle Larson goes wire-to-wire for first-ever Volusia win

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — A Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals gator was one of few pieces missing from Kyle Larson’s résumé. But there’d be no stopping him from filling that line on Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park.

He was third on Wednesday. He climbed to second on Thursday. The hunger grew and grew. And finally on Friday in his 19th attempt, Larson caught himself a gator.

“Yung Money” started on the pole of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Feature and never looked back. Lapped traffic appeared as if it may make things interesting with Christopher Bell stalking in second, but a timely yellow gave Larson open track. He refused to watch Bell celebrate two nights in a row. They’re friends but also fierce competitors.

Larson survived a handful of late restarts and parked the Silva Motorsports No. 57 in Victory Lane at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” for the first time.

“It’s (Volusia) a place that I feel like I’ve raced well,” Larson said. “I just always start so far back. I haven’t felt like that gator has been close enough. We’ve been getting the night started off pretty well, and my car feels really good throughout the night. I felt really good there again.

“It’s cool to win here at Volusia. It’s cool to have a lot of our supporters here this weekend and great to see a packed house too.”

It was roles reversed from the previous night when Bell narrowly fended off Larson. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion lined up on the pole and took off right away. Danny Sams III took the second spot from Bell early on, but the Norman, OK native rallied to reclaim it on Lap 13. He closed in on Larson in traffic, but some late cautions put Larson in clean air, and he drove the Silva Motorsports No. 57 to victory.

“It got kind of a little easy to run the top, so the lappers were just as fast as I was,” Larson said. “I felt like Bell would be closing on me, but I was able to make a couple good moves. I think the cautions probably came out at the right time for me, and I was able to have clean air to the end there.”

Larson’s 36th career win with The Greatest Show on Dirt equaled him with his former driver, Shane Stewart, for 22nd all-time. Volusia is the 18th different track where he’s topped a World of Outlaws race. Larson will also enter Saturday’s finale with an eight-point lead in the Big Gator standings with a strong chance to capture the reptilian championship trophy.

Bell came up just one spot short of back-to-back Volusia victories. The current NASCAR competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing now has podiums in four of his last five races at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile.” While Bell thought he was outmatched on Friday, he found himself wishing the race would’ve went caution-free to give him a shot.

“I definitely wanted it to stay green,” Bell said. “But ultimately, he got away from me even before the yellow came out. Ultimately, on the start me not being able to fall into second and follow behind him cost me a shot at it. But the car felt really good.”

Rounding out the podium was David Gravel in the Big Game Motorsports No. 2. The defending champion continued his strong start to 2025 with his third consecutive finish of fourth or better. He’s closest to Larson in the DIRTcar Nationals standings and looking to claim a record fourth Big Gator on Saturday.

“When it got congested there, we were really good,” Gravel said. “I think our car was the best right there in the middle of the race and was able to use the bottom here in (Turns) 3 and 4 to pass those guys. I think we passed two in one corner. Another good race car just a little too late. You put Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell on the front row it’s going to be tough to beat them.”

Brad Sweet and Ryan Timms completed the top five.

Logan Schuchart drove from 19th to eighth to earn the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Danny Sams III claimed his first career Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Two, and Four went to Carson Macedo, Brian Brown and Christopher Bell. WIX Filters Heat Three belonged to Kyle Larson.

Bell got the SPA Technique #1 Redraw for the second night in a row.

Kyle Larson topped the Toyota Racing Dash.

Giovanni Scelzi won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Anthony Macri.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car portion of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals closes out with a $20,000-to-win/$1,500-to-start finale on Saturday, Feb. 8. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap all season long on DIRTVision.

For the entire 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car schedule, CLICK HERE.


WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CARS  (49 entries)

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 69K-Christopher Bell[2]; 3. 2-David Gravel[5]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[4]; 5. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[6]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[13]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[19]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]; 10. 24D-Danny Sams III[3]; 11. 21-Brian Brown[8]; 12. 88-Austin McCarl[11]; 13. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[16]; 14. 83-Michael Kofoid[22]; 15. 27-Emerson Axsom[10]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen[14]; 17. 15-Donny Schatz[25]; 18. 26-Justin Peck[17]; 19. 9-Kasey Kahne[15]; 20. 5-Brenham Crouch[23]; 21. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[21]; 22. 23-Garet Williamson[18]; 23. 99-Skylar Gee[20]; 24. 6-Zach Hampton[27]; 25. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[24]; 26. 39M-Anthony Macri[12]; 27. 7S-Chris Windom[26]

MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 3. 5-Brenham Crouch[3]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6]; 5. 7S-Chris Windom[4]; 6. 71-Parker Price Miller[7]; 7. 16T-Brady Bacon[5]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich[8]; 9. 2C-Cole Macedo[10]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 11. 28-Conner Morrell[11]; 12. 13-Daison Pursley[13]; 13. 12X-Kameron Key[18]; 14. 6-Zach Hampton[14]; 15. 17GP-Landon Crawley[9]; 16. 64-Andy Pake[16]; 17. 15K-Creed Kemenah[15]; 18. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[19]; 19. 32-Bryce Lucius[17]

C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 12X-Kameron Key[1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[8]; 3. 44-Chris Martin[2]; 4. 6G-Bryan Gossel[3]; 5. 11T-TJ Stutts[5]; 6. 16TH-Kevin Newton[4]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres[10]; 8. 16G-Austyn Gossel[9]; 9. 36-Jason Martin[7]; 10. 34-Sterling Cling[6]; 11. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[11]

Toyota Dash (6 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[2]; 2. 69K-Christopher Bell[1]; 3. 24D-Danny Sams III[4]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[6]; 5. 2-David Gravel[3]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo[5]; 7. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 8. 21-Brian Brown[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[2]; 2. 24D-Danny Sams III[1]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[5]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 5. 26-Justin Peck[8]; 6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[3]; 7. 16T-Brady Bacon[9]; 8. 17GP-Landon Crawley[12]; 9. 13-Daison Pursley[6]; 10. 12X-Kameron Key[11]; 11. 11T-TJ Stutts[10]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[7]; 13. 97UK-Ryan Harrison[13]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 2-David Gravel[1]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl[4]; 4. 9-Kasey Kahne[6]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 6. 5-Brenham Crouch[7]; 7. 71-Parker Price Miller[3]; 8. 28-Conner Morrell[8]; 9. 15K-Creed Kemenah[10]; 10. 6G-Bryan Gossel[12]; 11. 36-Jason Martin[11]; 12. 16G-Austyn Gossel[9]

WIX Filters Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 10-Ryan Timms[2]; 3. 27-Emerson Axsom[4]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[6]; 6. 7S-Chris Windom[5]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich[7]; 8. 15-Donny Schatz[10]; 9. 64-Andy Pake[8]; 10. 44-Chris Martin[9]; 11. 16TH-Kevin Newton[11]; 12. 77T-Tyeller Powless[12]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 69K-Christopher Bell[2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee[8]; 6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[12]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo[9]; 8. 6-Zach Hampton[7]; 9. 32-Bryce Lucius[6]; 10. 83-Michael Kofoid[4]; 11. 34-Sterling Cling[10]; 12. 0-Glenn Styres[11]

Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 24D-Danny Sams III, 00:13.288[9]; 2. 2-David Gravel, 00:13.330[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo, 00:13.365[16]; 4. 21-Brian Brown, 00:13.400[12]; 5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 00:13.414[6]; 6. 71-Parker Price Miller, 00:13.422[4]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 00:13.427[10]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:13.428[7]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 00:13.448[25]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 00:13.490[20]; 11. 13-Daison Pursley, 00:13.516[24]; 12. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:13.549[15]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:13.552[23]; 14. 5-Brenham Crouch, 00:13.569[2]; 15. 26-Justin Peck, 00:13.610[1]; 16. 28-Conner Morrell, 00:13.621[14]; 17. 16T-Brady Bacon, 00:13.671[19]; 18. 16G-Austyn Gossel, 00:13.712[17]; 19. 11T-TJ Stutts, 00:13.721[8]; 20. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:13.773[18]; 21. 12X-Kameron Key, 00:13.818[22]; 22. 36-Jason Martin, 00:13.832[5]; 23. 17GP-Landon Crawley, 00:13.898[11]; 24. 6G-Bryan Gossel, 00:13.908[13]; 25. 97UK-Ryan Harrison, 00:13.964[21]

Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson, 00:13.448[12]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:13.509[15]; 3. 10-Ryan Timms, 00:13.537[8]; 4. 69K-Christopher Bell, 00:13.539[18]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:13.590[3]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:13.619[1]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom, 00:13.624[19]; 8. 83-Michael Kofoid, 00:13.675[22]; 9. 7S-Chris Windom, 00:13.679[9]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:13.698[23]; 11. 23-Garet Williamson, 00:13.770[21]; 12. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.791[24]; 13. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:13.806[4]; 14. 6-Zach Hampton, 00:13.843[17]; 15. 64-Andy Pake, 00:13.887[2]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:13.929[11]; 17. 44-Chris Martin, 00:13.936[5]; 18. 2C-Cole Macedo, 00:13.968[7]; 19. 15-Donny Schatz, 00:14.059[6]; 20. 34-Sterling Cling, 00:14.099[20]; 21. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:14.103[14]; 22. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:14.150[16]; 23. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 00:14.396[10]; 24. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 01:00.000[13]


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DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS (107 entries)

Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 777-Trevor Neville[2]; 2. 72-Todd Neiheiser[4]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace[3]; 4. 66-Cole Falloway[1]; 5. 88-Matt Crafton[5]; 6. 0K-Damian Kiefer[14]; 7. 43A-Mark Anderson[16]; 8. 6-Ryan Fowler[15]; 9. 21-Scott Ladner[10]; 10. 114K-Evan Koehler[8]; 11. 07K-Curtis King[11]; 12. T9-Zack Tate[12]; 13. 01-Brayden Weller[9]; 14. 35A-Michael Altobelli[6]; 15. 25-Greg Belyea[7]

Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. K9-Will Krup[1]; 2. 9T-Ryan Thomas[2]; 3. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[3]; 4. 15X-Justin Stone[4]; 5. 60-Shannon Fisk[7]; 6. 7D-Brad Deyoung[5]; 7. 114B-Clayton Bryant[6]; 8. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[18]; 9. 21B-Hunter Breland[11]; 10. 155-Gavin Shaw[12]; 11. 3S-Josh Sanford[10]; 12. 3F-Rob Fuqua[14]; 13. 18-Miles Beaulieu[8]; 14. 321-Denny Schwartz[13]; 15. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[16]

Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding[1]; 2. 13-Charlie Mefford[2]; 3. 56-Colton Profitt[3]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 5. 45-Chase Holland[4]; 6. 17C-Coleman Evans[7]; 7. 9R-JP Roberts Jr[11]; 8. 70H-Jim Britt[15]; 9. 60M-Jim Manka[9]; 10. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[13]; 11. 11N-Gene Nicholas[8]; 12. 7-Evan Taylor[5]; 13. 81K-Kyle Cole[17]; 14. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[14]

Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 8S-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 8W-Gregory Moore[4]; 3. 12L-Lucas Lee[2]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger[5]; 5. 97-Mitch Thomas[10]; 6. 90K-Ray Kable[8]; 7. 5-Jonathan Taylor[18]; 8. 49-Brian Ruhlman[3]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[6]; 10. 11-Aidan Hinds[9]; 11. 99-Jimmy Wagner[11]; 12. 77C-Jason Cox[16]; 13. 463-Daniel Sanchez[7]; 14. (DNS) 2J-Troy Johnson; 15. (DNS) S8-Jordan Stotts; 16. (DNS) 41-Brad Goff; 17. (DNS) 8-Dave Pinkerton; 18. (DNS) 26-Adam Ogle

Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[1]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 3. 114-Jordan Koehler[4]; 4. 24-Zeke McKenzie[6]; 5. 65-Matt Miller[13]; 6. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[9]; 7. 23T-Ryan Toole[18]; 8. 29C-Joey Cotterman[15]; 9. 99W-Wade Olmsted[16]; 10. 5B-Bobby Bagley[10]; 11. 10Y-Trent Young[3]; 12. 23Z-Austin Self[5]; 13. 11J-Jesse Rupe[7]; 14. 11L-Jimmy Lennex Jr[8]; 15. 45H-Kyle Hammer[12]; 16. 11D-Brian Diveley[14]

Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 77D-George Dixon[1]; 2. 8A-Austin Holcombe[4]; 3. 18L-Michael Long[2]; 4. 05-David Wietholder[9]; 5. 7J-Justin Allgaier[5]; 6. 27G-Jason Garver[11]; 7. 1H-Ben Harmon[8]; 8. 17-Chris Wilson[13]; 9. 51-Dalton Lanich[6]; 10. 81C-Christopher Cole[16]; 11. 57-Charlie Sandercock[3]; 12. 27-Michael Turner[7]; 13. 72S-Eric Shepherd Jr[12]; 14. 32-Chad Roush[14]; 15. 28C-Jeff Cotterman[15]; 16. (DNS) 16-Shawn Deering; 17. (DNS) 90-Jason Beaulieu