High Limit Racing: Third day’s the charm for Larson in Perth
After getting beaten by Australian James McFadden on the first two nights, NASCAR Cup driver and series co-owner Kyle Larson hit the big pay dirt on night 3 in Perth in the High Limit Racing International.
The inaugural High Limit International event lived up to all the hype, and it came to a head with a scentilating battle for $100,000 between American Kyle Larson and Australian James McFadden on Monday night.
Kwinana Beach, Western Australia’s Perth Motorplex was the perfect venue, and it delivered an epic three-day event that will long be remembered by the passionate fans from “The Land Down Under.”
Offering the highest-payday in the long history of Australian Speedway, a $100,000 AUD price tag brought unforgettable action between Larson’s Jason Pryde Motorsport #1K and McFadden’s Team Brady Racing #23X. (Note: $100,000 AUD is about $61,000 USD)
The box score reads that McFadden controlled the opening 26 circuits after surviving an early attack from local stud Callum Williamson before Larson rose to the occasion and chased him into lap traffic.
“Yung Money” patiently stalked McFadden through multiple rounds of traffic before the winning move came on Lap 27 with a move around the outside, to the roar of the crowd.
From there, Larson set sail over the final laps and crossed the checkered flag for his first-career victory on Australian soil. The Elk Grove, California native will go down as the winner of the first-ever six-figure payday in Australian history.
Larson drove for Jason Pryde this week with some familiar faces on the team.
“Jason Pryde has great equipment,” Larson said. “A lot of fun to get here and run with him and get one of my best friends in Trevor Canales to crew chief it; he’s really familiar with everything we do at the 57. It wasn’t much getting used to everything here and that allowed us to be fast on the track.”
McFadden’s heartbreaking $100K curse continued, as he’s been so close, so many times to a six-figure score in both America and Australia. His pursuit of a weekend sweep at Perth ends with a P2, still totaling $50,000 on the weekend for his #23X.
All McFadden could do was second guess.
“It’s hard to know where to go,” McFadden said. “That lap car drove back by me and it stuffed my whole momentum. I just kind of got out of rhythm, lost some a bit speed when it got rough on the top. I knew someone was going to be there in a bit.
“I just got super tight in the holes and I couldn’t carry the speed I had early in the race. Kyle got by me and the seas kind of parted a little bit and all the lap cars moved to the bottom and he had a lane to rip. At that point, he was gone and I couldn’t get back to him. It’s disappointing to have this kind of speed and not come away with it but at the same time, happy with our weekend and its nothing to hang our heads about.”
Western Australia’s own Callum Williamson rounded out the podium with a $12,500 reward for his third-place finish.
Brad Sweet, Dayne Kingshott, Brock Zearfoss, Jock Goodyer, Cole Macedo, Matt Egel, and Ryan Newton rounded out the top-10.
Note: Australia’s richest Sprint Car race will get richer next year with Perth Motorplex announcing a $140,000 prize purse for the return of High Limit International.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (12/30/24)
Perth Motorplex (Kwinana Beach, WAU)
Heat One Winner – Kyle Larson
Heat Two Winner – Matt Egel
Heat Three Winner – Dayne Kingshott
Heat Four Winner – Brock Zearfoss
Dash Winner – Callum Williamson
B-Main Winner – Taylor Milling
Hard Charger – Kris Coyle +12, 26th-to-14th
Lap Leaders – James McFadden 1-26; Kyle Larson 27-35.
