Larson wins Australia’s richest race

NASCAR star Kyle Larson showed his world-class skills by winning the richest race in Australian speedway history, the $100,000 High Limit International in Perth.

The three-night USA v WA extravaganza finished on Monday night where Larson overcame home heroes James McFadden and Callum Williamson.

A capacity crowd arrived at Perth Motorplex to see the decider and it was the star attraction, who wowed them for Pryde Motorsport.

Starting sixth, Larson did not hit the lead until the 28th lap of 35, but powered home to win by 3s.

It was a sweet win after the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion crashed whilst leading just 24 hours earlier.

“I was pretty confident, even after the main event on the first night and then I got the wall last night, but I felt good about things today,’’ Larson said.

Kyle Larson leaves Australia a winner after taking the High Limit International. Image: Richard Hathaway Photography

“I am happy to get the win and repay these guys for my mistake last night and all the hard work they had to do.

“I just felt I needed to pace him (McFadden) and hopefully catch him in lapped traffic – and then anything  can happen once the pace slows down.

“He was doing a really good job in traffic and I wasn’t quite sure if I would have enough time but he started really searching for different lines and I thought hopefully that was going to break his momentum up a little bit and it did – and it helped me build some runs.

“Honestly I have wanted to come for a couple of years, it just hasn’t worked out for me, but it was neat to have High Limit be a part of this event and me being able to come here for the first time.

“I thought it was a great event, a great atmosphere, the crowd was bigger that was I thought it was going to be too.’’

Kyle Larson on his way to victory. Image: Richard Hathaway Photography

McFadden and Williamson controlled the field from the front row when lights went out, with the former, who was on a high from back to back wins led from the outside.

Brad Sweet settled into third, while Larson fell to as low as sixth.

The race was only five laps old when a big crash on the back straight saw Daniel Harding limp from the cockpit of the W18.

There was another red light stoppage not long after which saw Ryan Lancaster and Kaiden Manders out of the contest.

But Larson was on the charge when there was racing and flew to second by Lap 9.

Callum Williamson showed pace in Perth. image: Richard Hathaway Photography

However, having swept both previous High Limit International races, McFadden appeared set to complete a hat-trick.

But Larson was flying and hunted him down.

Having stalked McFadden for a number of laps, Larson seized on his moment on Lap 28 and once clear of lapped traffic, pulled away to a special win.

McFadden and Williamson had to settle for podium spots, while Sweet and Kingshott completed the top five.

Image: Richard Hathaway Photography

High Limit International A Main results

1st Kyle Larson, 2nd James McFadden, 3rd Callum Williamson, 4th Brad Sweet, 5th Dayne Kingshott, 6th Brock Zearfoss, 7th Jock Goodyer, 8th Cole Macedo, 9th Matt Egel, 10th Ryan Newton, 11th Kerry Madsen, 12th Luke Oldfield, 13th Andrew Priolo, 14th Kris Coyle, 15th Taylor Milling, 16th Gio Scelzi, 17th Matt Juhl, 18th Jack Williamson, 19th Justin Whittall, 20th Jason Kendrick, 21st Aaron Chircop. DNF: James Inglis, Kaiden Manders, Ryan Lancaster, Daniel Harding and Brad Maiolo.

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