Kyle Larson

Kyle Larson secures 2021 NASCAR Cup title after Phoenix win

Kevin Peterson08 mins

Kyle Larson completed one of the best seasons in NASCAR history by winning Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway to claim the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship. An 11.8-second pit stop under caution gave Larson the lead entering the race’s final restart with 24 laps to go. Larson did the rest, holding off fellow Championship 4 drivers Martin Truex Jr. (finished second), Denny Hamlin (finished third), and Chase Elliott (finished fifth). Larson, who closes the season with 10 wins, becomes the 35th driver to win a title in NASCAR’s premier series. He does so after spending much of the 2020 season indefinitely suspended by NASCAR following his use of a racial slur during an April 2020 e-sports event. During that period, Larson spent time working to make amends and to mature personally. He also received a second chance to restart his NASCAR career when Hendrick Motorsports signed him to be their driver of the revived No. 5 car. Now, Larson has given the powerhouse HMS its 14th Cup crown. “I cannot believe it,” Larson told NBC Sports after the race. “I didn’t think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago, and to win the championship is crazy. … There were so many points of this race where I did not think that we were going to win. “And without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They’re the true winners of this race. They’re the true champions. I’m just blessed to be a part of this group. Every single person at Hendrick Motorsports – this win is for all of us and every one of you. “This is unbelievable, I’m speechless.” Stage 1 began with the Championship 4 drivers taking different strategies off early cautions. Larson pitted for tires on the day’s first yellow at Lap 8, but cycled back toward the front when Elliott, Hamlin, and Truex made their own first stops during a yellow at Lap 16. Ryan Blaney stayed out under the latter caution and kept the lead for the next 30 or so laps. But on Lap 51, Truex passed him for the race lead. While Blaney faded out of the top five, Truex pulled away to the stage win ahead of Kevin Harvick, Elliott, Hamlin and Larson. During the stage break, Elliott jumped two spots to take the race lead off pit road from Truex, whose jack man slipped on his stop but did well to recover. As Stage 2 progressed, Truex’s long-run speed helped him reel Elliott in. Over 35 laps into the run, he reclaimed the race lead from Elliott at Lap 120. A Quin Houff crash brought out the yellow at Lap 130 and brought the leaders to the pits. Elliott again was first off to take the race lead, while Truex fell to fourth and Hamlin fell to ninth with slow stops. Two more cautions for incidents led to another round of pit stops under a yellow at Lap 156. There, Larson came out first ahead of Elliott. Several cars stayed on the track, but during the ensuing restart, the entire Championship 4 were able to pass that group unscathed. Larson went on to win Stage 2 ahead of Elliott, Hamlin, Truex Jr. and Blaney. Larson, Elliott, Hamlin and Truex Jr. kept their positions through pit stops during the stage break and the restart to begin the final stage. Elliott took the race lead back from Larson at Lap 236, as Hamlin in third began to close in with long-run speed of his own. On Lap 245, Hamlin passed Larson for second and began working to catch Elliott. Three laps later, Truex was the first of the Championship 4 to visit pit road. As his car was serviced, Anthony Alfredo slammed the Turn 2 wall to bring out the yellow at Lap 249. However, due to the timing of the yellow, Truex was able to stay on the lead lap. And with the other Championship 4 drivers pitting, Truex stayed out to cycle into the lead while Hamlin was first off pit road ahead of Elliott. Truex and Ryan Blaney (who was also pitting when Alfredo crashed) led the field to green with 58 laps to go. When the field shook out, Truex and Hamlin were first and second, while Elliott and Larson were in third and fourth. As the run went on, JGR’s long-run speed – now bolstered by track position – allowed Truex and Hamlin to pull away. But with 30 laps to go, debris from the car of David Starr brought out the caution to set up the final sprint to the finish

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Kyle Larson claims third win in a row at Kansas Speedway

Kevin Peterson011 mins

Kyle Larson capped off a dominate performance at Kansas Speedway on Sunday by winning the Hollywood Casino 400. After leading 130 laps, he claimed his third-consecutive win and his ninth, overall, of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season. “I felt like I did an okay job trying to hold those guys off as long as I could, on older tires,” Larson said. “But, yeah, and then I just got a little too impatient and the race was kind of closing down in the end. I got loose off of [turn] two and got in the wall and thought for sure my chances of winning were done. But I had a couple of good restarts that worked out for me. The #4 [Kevin Harvick] got to the # 9’s [Chase Elliott] inside at the flag stand and kind of choked that lane up and got me clear to the lead. Had to do some blocking there, and Chase was really fast at the end. So I’m glad I didn’t have to fight him too much.” One of Larson’s teammates, reigning Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, finished second for a Hendrick Motorsports one-two finish after getting into the wall in the final five laps in an attempt to challenge his teammate for the lead and eventual win. “Really proud of the effort. Our entire NAPA Chevrolet team did a great job today, and I felt like we had something for Kyle, there,” Elliott said. “Just got the wall there off of [turn] two. It’s so hard to get up to him when you are running the fence like that. It’s just tough because every few feet you get closer, the harder it gets. It was a lot of fun. I’m really proud of the way we ran today. I feel like it was a really nice step in the right direction.” Kevin Harvick finished third, Kurt Busch was fourth, and Denny Hamlin finished fifth. The Hendrick Motorsports trio of Larson, William Byron and Elliott combined to dominate the race on the 17thanniversary of a plane crash that claimed the life of team owner Rick Hendrick’s son Ricky Hendrick, along with other Hendrick family members and Hendrick Motorsports employees on the way to Martinsville Speedway. “Yes, I want to dedicate this win to Rick and Linda,” Larson said. “I didn’t ever get to meet Ricky or the other men and women who lost their lives that day, but I felt the importance of this race, no doubt. It’s crazy how it kind of all worked out there for me to win. I know they were all looking down and helping me out there with all the restarts and stuff after getting into the wall. Again, thank you to Rick Hendrick. I know this means a lot to you and I’m glad I could get it done. It’s cool to get another win and I don’t really know how that happened, but our HendrickCars.com Chevy was really fast. I thought we were like a third-place car, really. William was really good. I hate to see that unfortunate luck, there, again for that team. They’ve been really, really strong. I’m glad we could capitalize and get another win. I hope we can go to Martinsville and get a clock.” All three drivers led laps in each of the two 80-lap stages with Larson winning stage one at lap 80 and Byron taking the stage two win on lap 160 of the 267-lap race. Larson started on the pole and dominated the first stage that included a brief red flag for precipitation and lightning. Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle, sustained a weather-related injury during the red flag when wind blew a canopy from atop the #24 pit box and debris struck Fugle in the head. After a visit to the Kansas Speedway infield care center, Fugle returned to his post. After potting during the caution that followed the weather delay, Matt DiBenedetto took fuel only during a lap-23 caution for Kyle Busch after Busch hit the wall because of a flat right-front tire. As a result, DiBenedetto was first for the restart. Larson retook the lead on lap 30. Elliott and Byron, then each led a few laps before Larson moved back into the position on lap 37. The HMS trio ran first through third throughout the remainder of the first stage and most of the laps that made up stage two. Kyle Busch was one of four playoff drivers to suffer a tire problem in the first stage. Flat right-rear tires resulted in unscheduled green-flag pit stops for Brad Keselowski on lap 39, Martin Truex Jr. on lap 53 and Ryan Blaney on lap 71. Busch hit the wall, again, with another flat tire on lap 133. Blaney wrecked after contact with Austin Dillon on lap 224. “Yeah, we got run into from two lanes below me,” Blaney said. “I have no idea. Obviously, it hurts. Finishing 37th is not prime. We didn’t have a great day but we did a good job of fighting back and getting back into the top-10, but then, just got wiped out when we had plenty of room. That sucks. It is very unfortunate.” Larson continued to lead early in the second stage with his teammates in tow. Elliott, though, took the lead on lap 88 and maintained the position until a cycle of green-flag pit stops in the middle of the stage. When the cycle finally completed when Joey Logano gave up the lead to pit on lap 145, Byron was the leader to take the stage win 15 laps later. Larson led early in the 107-lap third and final stage of the race after beating Byron off pit road, but on lap 186, Byron took the top position. An extra pit stop for a loose lug nut during a caution for a Ryan Newman spin on lap 218 cost Byron his lead. Instead, Kurt Busch restarted with the lead on lap 223. When the race returned…

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