HMS star Kyle Larson comes up short of the win in Tulsa Shootout

NASCAR driver and former Cup Series champion Kyle Larson won the inaugural High Limit International Sprint Car race at the Perth Motorplex, following which he got on a plane to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the 40th running of the famous Tulsa Shootout. But it didn’t end how the NASCAR star had hoped for.

This year’s lineup for the event initially received a record-setting 1798 entries. Besides Larson, NASCAR full-timers like Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch were among the contenders. Notably, Larson was vying for his second Tulsa Shootout victory with Jason Pryde Motorsports, a Western Australia-based outfit that competes in Sprint Car Racing and Australian Trans-AM.

However, fellow competitor Frank Flud held off Larson’s impressive charge from seventh to second and won the A Class Main Winged heat race. FloRacing shared the news on X, saying:

“🏁 @FrankFludRacing holds off a hard charging 7th to 2nd run by @KyleLarsonRacin for the win in A Class Winged heat races at the #TulsaShootout Presented by @NosEnergyDrink.”

The 2025 Tulsa Shootout kicked off on December 30 and will continue till January 4 at the SageNet Center. All races are streaming live exclusively on FloRacing.

Besides featuring his non-NASCAR endeavors, 2025 will also be Kyle Larson’s 12th year in the Cup Series. He has won 29 Cup races to date and bagged the 2021 Cup Series Championship as well. Today, the Elk Grove native drives the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro under the banner of Hendrick Motorsports. His first win for the Chevy team came in March 2021 in Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson opens up about hectic 24 hours, leading to the 2025 Tulsa Shootout

Kyle Larson left Perth at 3:10 PM ET and arrived in Los Angeles at 9:10 AM ET. From there, he took a direct flight to Tulsa. Needless to say, it was a hectic day for the 32-year-old race car driver.

Speaking with FloRacing’s Blake Anderson about it, Larson said:

“It was really quick. The checkered flag was at 10:00 p.m., probably in Perth, and then my flight was at 5:00 in the morning. Stayed up all night in the casino… only about two hours once we returned to the casino.

“Once I got here… straight to the building, ran around, got my pit pass, and ran straight to getting into my Outlaw cars,” he added, laughing.

As per reports, Kyle Larson can run four of the six divisions of the Tulsa Shootout. This means he has three more shots at winning the coveted Golden Driller trophy.

Meanwhile, his NASCAR duties will resume from February 2 onwards, with the season-opening clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. Fans can watch Larson's race on FOX from 8 pm ET onwards, or listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.