Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, CA, celebrates his first place win with his daughter at the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup XXXI at Lernerville speedway in Cabot on Wednesday. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle

Justin Guido

BUFFALO TWP — Caution flags were the only thing able to slow Kyle Larson down Wednesday night.

Three of them were brought out in the first seven laps of the 31st Annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup sprint feature at Lernerville Speedway.

Afterward, Larson’s path to victory lane was clear. Using the high side of the track, he took the lead from Brent Marks and paced the field for the final 24 laps to claim the checkered flag and the $25,000 that came with it.

Marks had recently beat out Larson twice during Central Pa. Speed Week, but the former could not hold him off in Wednesday’s race, part of the All-Star Circuit of Champions slate this summer.

“I was hoping he couldn’t get by me,” Larson said of Marks after passing him. “I didn’t know how good he was (running) behind me, didn’t know if he was able to run the same line as me.

“It’s good to get Brent off the top step of the podium.”

Marks never did give up the runner-up spot.

“I didn’t know the top was there until Kyle got by,” he said. “We can’t hang our heads about second. I’m proud of the whole team.”

It was Larson’s 27th career victory on the all-star circuit. He previously won the Silver Cup here in 2018. He captured the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, but appreciates the chance to compete at Lernerville.

“It’s special. I like Lernerville a lot and I had a lot of fun tonight,” he said. “It’s great to get another win and a big check at that.”

Larson encountered track conditions he was not expecting.

“Normally, the track is slick here in heat races and it carries on through the rest of the night. Tonight, it was heavy and I feel that lends to me some because you can catch traffic quick and keep the pace up.”

Evans City’s Brandon Spithaler placed 15th out of 25 entries in the feature. Butler’s Darin Gallagher was 18th.

All-Star Sprints

Results

Feature (30 laps)

(Top 10 finishers

1-Kyle Larson, 2-Brent Marks, 3-Justin Peck, 4-Chris Windom, 5-Hunter Schuerenberg, 6-Zeb Wise, 7-Rico Abnreu, 8-Cap Henry, 9-Bill Balog, 10-Tyler Courtney

Heat Winners

1-Logan Wagner; 2-Chris Windom; 3-Hunter Schuerenberg; 4-Rico Abreu; B-Main-Carson Short