Larson rolls into Plymouth with sprint car All Stars
PLYMOUTH – Bill Balog was standing in front of his race car Thursday afternoon in the Plymouth Dirt Track pits, talking about how huge it would be to beat some of the best in the business with $26,000 on the line.
Then an unadorned, white truck and trailer rolled by.
“I was hoping he wasn't going to show,” Balog said with a laugh and a shake of his head.
Kyle Larson had arrived. Suddenly the outlook changed for the top driver from the area – the nine-time Interstate Racing Association champion – who already felt like a long shot against All Star Circuit of Champions field Thursday night.
“It's going to be …” Balog continued, looking for the right word to describe the challenge presented by the hottest driver in American motor sports. There may not be any.
“All of the drivers … we're all trying so hard,” Balog said. “We can't even get close to him. There's a bunch of guys here who have tons of talent and the best equipment and they can pass that guy. It's kind of discouraging.”
Larson, who lost his NASCAR Cup ride in April after using a racial slur in a virtual race, has been a terror on the dirt short tracks since.
He entered the night with a five-race winning streak with the All Stars and 20 victories in 34 starts in sprint cars and midgets with a low finish of sixth and won the overall title at Pennsylvania Speedweek.
So, on the eve of his 28th birthday, Larson was here to compete in the Rayce Rudeen Foundation race, by far the highest-paying sprint-car race ever in Wisconsin. The Rayce Rudeen Foundation
supports programs involved in the prevention, treatment and recovery from addiction and honors a young man from Washington state who died of an accidental drug overdose.
The race was co-sanctioned by the All Stars, the second-biggest sprint-car series in the country behind the World of Outlaws, and the IRA, a regional traveling series.
Balog, a native of North Pole, Alaska, who settled in Hartland, is to the IRA what Larson has been to the bigger divisions, having won five of seven IRAsanctioned races this season. But on this night, he would be a small fish in the All Star pond, with or without Larson.
“This would be similar to an Outlaw show,” said Balog, one of the rare local drivers to have won an Outlaws race (2016 at Beaver Dam Raceway). “There's Outlaw quality cars here. We're just missing the Outlaws themselves, which is good for us.
“Goal-wise, you want to make the show. If you won it, it would be humongous. This would be just a huge win. And we supposedly have some sort of advantage when we go here, but these guys figure it out so quickly in hot laps, and they already have information, so it's pretty tough to pull the wool over their eyes.”
Larson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR in April for using a racial slur during a virtual race while live sports were on hold early in the coronavirus pandemic.
He subsequently lost his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing as sponsors sought to distance themselves from Larson. He remains suspended.
But Larson – who has said he is interested in returning to NASCAR – is making up for his time away.
“They got their stuff together,” Balog said. “He's definitely hungry. Probably a little bit hungrier than everybody else.”