Kyle Larson makes an impact at Eldora

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Leaning against his Chevrolet Silverado, whose yellow and red paint scheme virtually was battered and scraped beyond recognition, a stone-faced Kyle Larson waited for a TV interview.

He cracked a smile when a fan leaned in and broke the mood with a whimsical question about Larson's slam-bang performance Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway.

"Do you know how many trips to the infield care center you have to make tonight? Every hit is mandatory."

"I know, right," Larson cracked. "I drove it back, though. I'm good."

It was a wonder he could drive it at all after a 26th-place finish in the Mudsummer Classic.

Larson estimated he slammed the wall at least 70 times, and the impacts spiked while he was trying to catch race winner Darrell Wallace Jr. during the closing laps of the Camping World Truck Series race.

For track owner Tony Stewart, it ranked as an indelible memory at the half-mile dirt track that always seems to deliver a defining moment during its events.

"Bubba was the strongest truck the entire race," Stewart said. "Kyle had one of those gladiator runs. He didn't leave anything on the table. If he didn't win it, he was going to wear it.

"Those are moments that happen at places like this that make for great racing."

Larson said he lost count of the collisions with the wall after five in the first five laps. He estimated hitting the wall another 20 times in practice but shrugged it off.

"I've hit a lot harder here at Eldora before," he said. "I've been in the hospital after a race here before.

"I lost count probably after the first five (collisions) and that was in the first five laps. It's funny to watch me do that. But it's kind of stupid, too."

It brought the admiration of Wallace, who said Larson "was using the wall pretty good all day. We found that was a strong point for him."

The wall didn't seem to blunt the momentum of Larson, who was gaining speed before a final impact finally caused right front failure (likely in the brake line) that caused a fade from 2nd to 26th in the final four laps.

Larson had taken the lead from Wallace just before a Lap 129 caution. But Wallace retook first on a Lap 133 restart and paced the final 18 laps.

"It sucks, but Darrell had to get me up in the seat to try to get back by, and he had a really good restart," Larson said. "Just ran in the wall too many times."

Said Wallace: "I think I could actually hear him hit it every lap. He wanted to win and was going to do everything he could. But I was set up just a little better to keep him back there and make him fight for it."

It was the latest impressive showing at Eldora for Larson, who is one of only two drivers in the storied track's 64-year history to sweep the USAC Four Crown Nationals.

That caught the eye of NASCAR team owners such as Stewart, who was awed again Wednesday.

"I watched Kyle every time he hit (the wall), and the thing is it doesn't scare him," Stewart said. "You hit the wall on a pavement track, it normally gets their attention. To him, it's making the correction with the steering wheel and going on.

"It shows what kind of driver he is, the kind of mental toughness he has. You aren't going to rattle that kid."

But Wallace, who was running only his second race on dirt, also wasn't fazed, even though he claimed never to have gotten comfortable behind the wheel of his No. 54 Toyota.

"I just tried to be straight and smooth on the throttle," said Wallace, who led 97 of 150 laps. "I never looked in my mirror to see how far (Larson) was back. I don't think I looked in my mirror all night except under caution."

Stewart said Wallace had "the same mentality and toughness" as Larson.

"You've got one of the best dirt drivers I've ever seen getting bigger and bigger in your mirror and that kid never made a mistake," Stewart said. "This was a night everyone played a hand in writing the story, but the two guys toe to toe at the end put on great performances to finish the chapter. I don't know how you write a better ending."

Follow Ryan on Twitter @nateryan

MUDSUMMER CLASSIC RESULTS

Lap length: .5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Darrell Wallace Jr., Toyota, 150 laps, 149.7 rating, 48 points, $33,585.

2. (3) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 150, 120.3, 43, $22,160.

3. (4) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 150, 105.4, 41, $18,510.

4. (10) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 150, 93.1, 40, $14,410.

5. (13) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 150, 104.4, 0, $9,885.

6. (18) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 150, 86.4, 38, $10,310.

7. (2) Jeb Burton, Toyota, 150, 108.1, 38, $9,760.

8. (5) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 150, 89.5, 36, $9,710.

9. (9) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 150, 77.7, 35, $10,660.

10. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 150, 72.5, 0, $8,635.

11. (8) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 150, 91.4, 33, $10,560.

12. (24) German Quiroga, Toyota, 150, 65.8, 32, $9,510.

13. (21) Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, 150, 67.6, 31, $9,460.

14. (7) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 150, 70.8, 30, $9,410.

15. (27) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 150, 57, 29, $10,185.

16. (14) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 150, 72, 28, $9,310.

17. (23) Chase Pistone, Chevrolet, 150, 50, 27, $9,260.

18. (16) J.R. Heffner, Chevrolet, 150, 49.1, 26, $9,210.

19. (26) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 150, 56.2, 25, $6,755.

20. (17) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 150, 39.3, 24, $9,580.

21. (15) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, 150, 40.9, 23, $8,905.

22. (12) Mason Mingus, Toyota, 150, 49.3, 22, $7,605.

23. (20) Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 150, 51.6, 21, $7,555.

24. (25) Korbin Forrister, Chevrolet, 150, 31.7, 20, $6,505.

25. (30) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 149, 32.5, 0, $6,605.

26. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, accident, 148, 94.3, 0, $6,405.

27. (29) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 148, 32.4, 17, $6,355.

28. (28) Jody Knowles, Ford, 148, 33.3, 16, $6,305.

29. (1) Erik Jones, Toyota, 144, 69.3, 16, $6,205.

30. (22) Michael Affarano, Chevrolet, overheating, 93, 24, 0, $6,564.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 50.195 mph.

Time of Race: 1 hour, 29 minutes, 39 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 5.489 seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 33 laps.

Lead Changes: 5 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: E.Jones 1-24; J.Burton 25-31; R.Hornaday Jr. 32-48; D.Wallace Jr. 49-127; K.Larson 128-132; D.Wallace Jr. 133-150.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Wallace Jr., 2 times for 97 laps; E.Jones, 1 time for 24 laps; R.Hornaday Jr., 1 time for 17 laps; J.Burton, 1 time for 7 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 5 laps.

Camping World Truck Series points standings: 1. R.Blaney, 369; 2. M.Crafton, 365; 3. J.Sauter, 359; 4. R.Hornaday Jr., 350; 5. G.Quiroga, 343; 6. D.Wallace Jr., 341; 7. B.Kennedy, 332; 8. T.Peters, 327; 9. J.Coulter, 312; 10. J.Townley, 304.