10 Lead Changes, But Larson Repeats In Jokers Jackpot

ROSSBURG, Ohio — The third annual Joker’s Jackpot showcased the beauty of sprint car racing to the masses on Thursday night at Eldora Speedway.

With a $100,000 check on the line and fans worldwide watching on FS1, the stars of Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing delivered a spectacular main event at “The Big E.”

But in the end, it was a familiar winner as Kyle Larson drove Paul Silva’s No. 57 sprint car to victory for the second consecutive year at the historic half-mile.

Entering the 35-lap main event, all the hype surrounded Hendrick Motorsports teammates Larson and Corey Day who shared the front row.

The story quickly shifted, however, as Rico Abreu surged his “Rushville Rocket” by both of them to lead the opening lap – the first of what would be 10 lead changes.

Abreu paced the opening 22 laps before Larson, who had slipped as far back as 4th, came roaring back to the front and officially assumed the lead after a series of sliders.

That duel between Abreu and Larson came shortly after the moment of the race when Corey Day, who was going toe-to-toe with Larson for second, hit the turn four wall and coasted the beaten and battered No. 14 to a stop.

Once in control, Larson cruised to a 1.480-second margin of victory as he cashed his second-straight $100,000 check from the Joker’s Jackpot. I

t was his sixth six-figure score, second-most in history to Donny Schatz’s 13 in that category.

It pushed Larson to 15 career victories with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing – second only to Rico Abreu’s 29 total.

Speaking of Abreu, he settled for runner-up honors worth $25,000 aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 24.

The St. Helena, California native remains so, so close to finally winning an Eldora Speedway crown jewel, and he’ll get another chance this weekend at the Kings Royal.

Closing out the podium with a sixth-to-third run was Logan Schuchart aboard the Shark Racing, RelaDyne No. 1s.

Rounding out the top five were Carson Macedo in his Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 and Brent Marks in the No. 19.

The finish:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 14-Rico Abreu[3]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[6]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 5. 19-Brent Marks[5]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 7. 17-Spencer Bayston[18]; 8. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]; 9. 21H-Brady Bacon[12]; 10. 21-James McFadden[14]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[7]; 12. 71-Parker Price Miller[11]; 13. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[10]; 14. 87-Aaron Reutzel[15]; 15. 15-Donny Schatz[22]; 16. 2-David Gravel[23]; 17. 94-Brad Sweet[24]; 18. 83-Michael Kofoid[21]; 19. 9-Daison Pursley[17]; 20. 55-Kerry Madsen[19]; 21. 39M-Anthony Macri[13]; 22. 27-Emerson Axsom[16]; 23. 14M-Corey Day[2]; 24. 23D-Chase Dietz[20]

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