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BACK WITH A BANG: Kyle Larson & Corey Day Open High Limit Season in Las Vegas Photo Finish

Hendrick Motorsports Teammates Battle in Third-Closest Finish in High Limit History

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (March 12, 2026) - After a 145-day off-season, Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing came out of the gates in a big way when the 2026 season opener took to Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Thursday's SugarBee Blackjack Bash.

Kicking off NASCAR weekend in "Sin City," it ended up quite fitting that the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, a NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Rookie of the Year contender, and a brand new sprint car team for Spire Motorsports filled up the night one podium.

Starting from the outside pole of the 25-lap A-Main, "Hot Sauce" Giovanni Scelzi quickly established himself at the point in what would turn out to be a non-stop green-to-checkered sprint to the finish. He built as large as a three-second advantage while Brent Marks and Tanner Thorson matched slide job after slide job after slide job in a marvelous battle for second.

With Scelzi deep in traffic and Thorson & Marks throwing haymakers at each other, the door quietly opened for Kyle Larson and Corey Day to pounce around mid-race. It was on Lap 11 that Larson made a two-for-one move to pass both Marks & Day as he swooped into second-from-fourth. From there, it was all about tracking down Gio at the front.

Clearing him with a turn one slide job on Lap 18, Larson assumed the lead and brought Day with him only one lap later. This set the stage for a thrilling finish as the protege followed the master through lap traffic and baited him into the third-closest finish in Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing history.

With Larson dedicated to the bottom and Day pounding the outside, a photo finish awaited at the checkered flag with a mere 0.096-seconds separating the two at the stripe as Larson's Silva Motorsports #57 got the best of Day's Jason Meyers Racing #14.

The win marked Larson's 10th career High Limit win - ranking fourth all-time behind Rico Abreu (25), Brad Sweet (14), and Corey Day (11). It was also his first-career win at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dirt track and his second season-opening score with High Limit.

Making a successful season debut in the Jason Meyers Racing #14, Day was more than thrilled to be back behind the wheel of a sprint car - winning or losing.

Rounding out the podium and assuming the de facto championship lead was Giovanni Scelzi who led the opening 17 laps. The Fresno, California native made it quite the first splash for Spire Motorsports and Chili's Grill & Bar on the #77.

Closing out the top-10 was Brent Marks, Tanner Thorson, Ryan Timms, Rico Abreu, Kerry Madsen, James McFadden, and Aaron Reutzel.

THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (3/12/26)
Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Las Vegas, Nevada)
SugarBee Apples Blackjack Bash

Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps - Corey Day (14.624)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime Flight A - Corey Day (14.309)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime Flight B - Kyle Larson (14.405)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Rico Abreu
DMI Heat Two Winner - Brent Marks
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Ryan Timms
Rod End Supply Heat Four Winner - Giovanni Scelzi
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Brent Marks
Winters Performance B-Main Winner - Tyler Courtney
DURST Dice Roll Driver - Rico Abreu (7th, finished 7th)
Jake’s Golf Carts Fastest Lap - Giovanni Scelzi (15.390 on Lap 2)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Rookie of the Race - Tanner Holmes (16th)
Rod End Supply Hard Charger - Kyle Larson +4 (5th-to-1st)
Cometic Gasket Crew Chief of the Race - Paul Silva
First to the Sunoco Checkered Flag - Silva Motorsports #57
CASM Win Sticker - Kyle Larson
Angel Donor Charity - SherryStrong.org
Lap Leader(s) - Giovanni Scelzi 1-17; Kyle Larson 18-25

Interstate Batteries A-Main Results (25 Laps): 1. 1. 57-Kyle Larson[5]; 2. 14-Corey Day[6]; 3. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[2]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 5. 88-Tanner Thorson[4]; 6. 10-Ryan Timms[3]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu[7]; 8. 55-Kerry Madsen[8]; 9. 21-James McFadden[12]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel[14]; 11. 2X-Justin Sanders[9]; 12. 9-Daison Pursley[15]; 13. 26-Justin Peck[16]; 14. 88W-Austin McCarl[18]; 15. 42-Sye Lynch[10]; 16. 13-Tanner Holmes[11]; 17. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[21]; 18. 17GP-Hank Davis[17]; 19. 9R-Chase Randall[22]; 20. 24D-Danny Sams III[20]; 21. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]; 22. 5-Brenham Crouch[23]; 23. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[19]; 24. 83T-Tanner Carrick[24]

NEW 2026 Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Championship Standings (After 1/64 Races):

1. Giovanni Scelzi - Spire Motorsports #77 (68 pts... -)
2. Brent Marks - Brent Marks Racing #19 (65 pts... -3)
3. Tanner Thorson - Rod Gross Motorsports #88 (63 pts... -5)
4. Rico Abreu - Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24 (59 pts... -9)
5. Kerry Madsen - Vermeer Motorsports #55 (57 pts... -11)
6. Aaron Reutzel - Ridge & Sons Racing #87 (53 pts... -15)
7. Daison Purlsey - Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9 (49 pts... -19)
8. Justin Peck - Rudeen Racing #26 (47 pts... -21)
9. Sye Lynch - Mosites Lynch Racing #42 (43 pts... -25)
10. Tanner Holmes - Buch Motorsports #13 (41 pts... -27)
11. Tyler Courtney - Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC (39 pts... -29)
12. Hank Davis - Michael Dutcher Motorsports #17GP (37 pts... -31)
13. Chase Randall - Chase Randall Racing #9R (35 pts... -33)
14. Danny Sams III - Randerson Racing #24D (33 pts... -35)
15. Brenham Crouch - CJB Motorsports (29 pts... -39)

WHAT’S NEXT: The season-opening SugarBee Apples Blackjack Bash continues on Friday and Saturday, March 13-14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two more complete programs for Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing. Tickets are available for purchase HERE, or you can watch every lap live on FloRacing.

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