PLACERVILLE, Calif. — Kyle Larson led much of Saturday’s USAC Hangtown 100 at Placerville Speedway but was launched into a dramatic, multi-rotation flip with five laps remaining when Daison Pursley’s low-line move clipped a greasy inside berm and made contact with Larson’s front end. Larson climbed from the car uninjured, gave Pursley a sarcastic clap and double thumbs-up to the crowd, and left the 1/4-mile dirt oval having finished 15th — a result that cost the hometown favorite a likely win and the $20,000 winner’s purse.
Track, timeline and key facts
• The feature was a 100-lap USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series event at Placerville Speedway on Nov. 15, 2025. Larson qualified fastest and led a race-high 52 laps before the late-race collision.
• On lap 96, Pursley dove low into turn one, clipped an inside berm (“hit the grease”), lost rear grip and his right-rear struck Larson’s left-front, sending Larson airborne over the cushion where the car rotated roughly 3½ times before coming to rest on its side. Larson walked away.
• Daison Pursley took the checkered flag for his first Hangtown 100 victory; the race paid $20,000 to the winner. The feature was chaotic — multiple flips and multi-car incidents occurred earlier — and the weekend had already been disrupted by heavy rain that dumped roughly 3.5 inches on the facility the preceding day.
How conditions mattered
Placerville’s quarter-mile dirt surface had been severely tested by weather. Heavy rain forced the event schedule into adjustments and left a slick, variable surface where inside berms could suddenly turn “greasy” and outside cushions built up into high, launch-prone walls. Multiple drivers referenced the tricky entry and the berm when discussing the late incident. Those same surface quirks — wet weather, a tight short track, a pronounced cushion and heavy lapped-car traffic in the closing laps — combined to raise the risk of contact when drivers attempted last-lap or near-last-lap pass attempts.
Impact on standings and purse
Larson’s tumble dropped him to 15th in the Hangtown feature scoring — well short of the victory he seemed on course to claim — and cost him the $20,000 winner’s purse. While the race’s finish did not produce a single decisive shift in the USAC title (the event tightened the championship — Justin Grant closed to within three points of Cannon McIntosh after the race), the result was significant to the evening’s narrative and to local fans who had packed the grandstands to see Larson race at the track where he learned his craft.
Voices from the infield and victory lane
Pursley, subdued and apologetic in victory lane, said:
“I just hit the grease; I felt like I had a run on him. I don’t want to win the race like that. I apologize to Kyle and them.”
Larson, after climbing from his car, described the moment bluntly:
“He surprised me on entry into one and hit the grease and I kind of had nowhere to go. It’s a bummer, but I get it because my entry was closed off.”
Those comments — from both driver and victor — underscore that the wreck was an instantaneous racing misfortune, not the product of malice.
Track & conditions context
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Placerville Speedway is a ¼-mile high-banked dirt oval located at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California.
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The weekend’s schedule was disrupted by weather: nearly 3.5 inches of rain fell on Friday, forcing the opener to be canceled and the Saturday event to be advanced/adjusted
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The wet conditions and track prep meant the surface was tricky: it likely had greased-up inside lines, berms forming, and a challenging cushion (outer high line) that drivers used.
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In the specific crash, Pursley “hit the grease” (slippery inside berm) as he moved low, lost rear grip and slid up into Larson. Larson noted his entry was “closed off” and that the contact was triggered by Pursley’s slide.
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The track environment – tight, quarter-mile, heavy traffic, lapped cars, multiple flips during the race, and a cushion built up on the high side – all contributed to the risk and elevated drama.
Larson’s Hangtown 100 effort was outstanding in terms of pace and controlling the race until the final laps. But a high-risk maneuver by Pursley, combined with the track’s slick inside berm and the cushion on the high side, resulted in contact that ended Larson’s run. He lost the lead, the win, and ended up 15th. For a driver used to winning, it was a harsh reminder of how fine the margins are—especially on a slick, short dirt oval under challenging conditions.
Local context for El Dorado County readers
Placerville Speedway sits on the county fairgrounds and the Hangtown 100 is one of the biggest annual dirt-midget events the region hosts, drawing racers and fans from across the West. The rain that hammered the foothills the day before forced schedule changes and left the track in a state that rewarded precision and punished small mistakes — a condition El Dorado County motorsports volunteers and track crews worked through all weekend. For local fans, the image of a hometown product like Larson flipping in front of a partisan crowd — then walking away — will be remembered as part of a wild, rain-scarred Hangtown weekend.
What to watch next
USAC continues its California swing and the championship fight remained tight after Placerville; teams will regroup as the winter stretch of late-season dirt events approaches. Locally, track officials and fans will be parsing whether further drainage or prep changes are needed for future wet-weekend scenarios.
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