Kyle Larson made his January plans official on Monday, confirming that he will be racing in the Wild West Shootout – a dirt late model event that features six nights of racing at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico.
The event serves as a pseudo-kickoff to the calendar year of racing, and takes place almost parallel to the week-long Chili Bowl Nationals event he’s previously won.
The reasoning for Larson, according to a report from Matt Weaver at RacingAmerica.com, comes in purse money available in each respective race.
With the Chili Bowl Nationals, the winning driver takes home a flat $10,000 for winning a weeklong, tournament-style race that garners around 300 entries per year.
The Wild West Shootout pays $10,000 for the first five nights’ winners as well as $25,000 for the finale night race. If a driver wins four races, they earn a $25,000 bonus. If they get five victories, it jumps to $100,000 and if one can manage a sweep they will take home $300,000.
Last year’s Wild West Shootout saw just 32 entries on the final night of racing.
“It’s nothing personal against the Hahns,” Larson said of the Chili Bowl Nationals promoter in the Racing America report. “I just don’t see the race as one of the biggest ones like I used to because it hasn’t grown like other big races have. I want to see it grow for the betterment of the teams who have put so much into making it a really special week… I’m just at the point where I want to see the purse grow a lot. So, for the time being, and unless that happens, I won’t be running it this year and I know there are a lot of racers that feel the same way.”
So far the announced super late model entries for the Wild West Shootout include Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Erb, Chris Simpson, Don Shaw, Cade Dillard, Kyle Beard, Rodney Sanders, Johnny Scott, Stormy Scott, Garrett Alberson, and Earl Pearson Jr..
Chili Bowl Nationals entries open on Wednesday.
