Yung Money gets the money in Las Vegas: Kyle Larson handles lap traffic best to beat Corey Day in the third-closest High Limit Racing finish ever at SugarBee Blackjack Bash opener

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By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com) 

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Las Vegas-When a race goes green to checkered without an incident, you get some wild things happening. You also see a lot of comers and goers, and having a top-notch car at an aero-dependent track matters.  

It also doesn’t hurt to have one of the best drivers in the world in a sprint car, either. This showed as Kyle Larson grabbed the lead late to win the opening night of SugarBee BlackJack Bash with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt track.  

It’s his first win of the year in his first start of the year in the Paul Silva-owned No. 57. He also takes home $10,000 for winning the race.  

“It’s always fun to get behind the wheel of a sprint car,” Larson laughed. “They’re just wild and fun vehicles to drive, so yeah, and then when you can get a win, it feels great too. So I don’t typically, I  feel like winning to start off the season. So this is unique, and we’ll soak it in.” 

Larson started the race in fifth before taking his first lead of the race on lap 25 due in large part to ripping the top in turns 1 and 2. He also got through the lap traffic the best.  

“It was a good race,” Larson said. “I kind of had an okay start, and settled in the fifth, and then was able to get by the few of them in front of me, I don’t know, midway through the race, pretty quickly, which was important. They got racing pretty hard, and then, yeah, I was able to track down Gio (Scelzi). I had some decent, you know, kind of lines working for me, which helped me build some runs too.” 

This ended up being the third-closest finish in the short time of High Limit Racing as Larson beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate Corey Day to the line by .096 seconds. 

On top of that, the two had a great time racing it out in their first start in a sprint car this season. 

“It was fun,” Day said I wish I was on the other end of it, for sure. But yeah, it’s always fun when I get to race with Kyle. He’s always the gauge for how you’re doing, right? If you’re running with Kyle, then you’re doing good. So I think I got some stuff to clean up on my end, getting through lap traffic a little, a little sloppy for me, and I think we can get our race car a little better.”

The reason why the two enjoy batting it out on dirt is that they think a lot alike, which showed in this race.

“It’s always fun because we’re both very, very similar behind the wheel of a sprint car and, yeah, we both are kind of on the edge,” Larson added. “So yeah, we think a lot of the same out there, so we make a lot of the same moves, and it’s just fun.”

But in the end, lap traffic is what let it get away from Day and getting another payday. 

This lap traffic is especially what hurt third-place finisher Giovanni Scelzi. He was able to get the lead early after winning the pole in the FK Rod Ends dash. In all, he led the first 17 laps before Larson and Day got around him. 

“I mean, I felt like we had the car to beat all night long,” Scelzi said. “We didn’t qualify, great, but the change we made in the heat race, as well as a dash in the feature, I think, were phenomenal. It sucks when you feel like you have the car to win and don’t get it done, but to have a race go green to checkered like that, sometimes I feel like being out front is almost a disadvantage.”

The defending series champion, Rico Abreu, was also awarded his championship ring after winning the title in 2025.

“It’s unbelievable,” the reigning champion said. “Just to get something, a token like that, from High Limit, and how beautiful that ring is, I mean, it’s a well-earned accomplishment, right? And, I put it all on these guys for the work they put into this team, and putting us in a position to win races. I want to make sure that they get to share those moments with me, too. But I’ll be proudly wearing that when we go to some special events just because those are hard to come by. 

He ended the night in 7th after winning his heat and getting relegated to the back of the dash. He was a beneficiary of Ty Gibbs wrecking on the opening lap of the heat race, where Justin Sanders beat him on the start. 

“I mean, that’s the product of sprint car racing,” he added. “You get second chances sometimes on the start, so you just got to take them as they can come, and make sure you’re always in position to take advantage of.”

The series will be back in action today at the dirt track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.