Dirt Racing Star Pips NASCAR Champions Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott to Take the USAC Turkey Night GP

This weekend, something very rare happened. Something which hasn’t happened a lot this year in American racing – Kyle Larson lost a race. In fact, both the 2021 and 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champions and teammates recently lost the Turkey Night Grand Prix to Logan Seavey as Buddy Kofoid won the championship.

Larson, who usually has one foot in the dirt racing car and one in a NASCAR car, has experienced immense success in 2021. Not only did he win the NASCAR title with record-equalling numbers, but he also won several races and titles in dirt racing as well.

However, on Saturday night, both the Hendrick drivers failed to leave a mark in Ventura. Larson finished fourth while rookie Elliott finished in 22th, as Seavey won the race.

Seavey took the lead in lap 42 and held on to it until the end of lap 98. The hometown boy finished the line 0.335 seconds ahead of Kofoid, who already had the series in the bag before the race began.

“This is huge being Turkey Night, obviously being in California, it’s the biggest race of the year for me and the biggest race for my team, too,” Seavey said.

Larson, who could’ve finished third, was passed by Mitchel Moles after a lap 85 restart.

Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in their offseason

Despite a long season behind them, the two Hendrick drivers are racing well into their offseason. The two of them have been also racing together on the dirt racing circuit.

It began with Hangtown 100, which Larson entered as a defending champion and Elliott as a rookie. Elliott is relatively new to dirt racing, having only made his debut in the last year, but Larson has been racing and winning titles for over a decade.

The Elk Grove resident won the Friday night race while his NASCAR teammate struggled to qualify.

Chase Elliott has also been putting in some laps in the Next Gen NASCAR car during the ongoing testing.

Looking ahead, Elliott will make his debut in the final round of the NRX RallyCross in December. Larson, though, has plans to visit Abu Dhabi for the last race of the Formula 1 season.

However, both drivers will have one eye on the NASCAR season opener in February in Los Angeles.

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