Kyle Larson Ends Richmond on the Winning Strategy

Photo by Peter Stratta/TSJSports

NASCAR

Kyle Larson Takes 20th Career Win at Richmond on Late Money Pit Stop

RICHMOND, Va. – Sunday was a day filled with alternating strategies at Richmond, seeing several different leaders. After this race appeared to be falling in Toyota’s favor, a late caution gave a few Hendrick cars opportunities to shake things up. By taking two tires, Kyle Larson beat everyone else back out, and held on to lead the final 25 laps. This marks career victory number 20 for the 2021 champion, coming with substitute crew chief Kevin Meendering and on the late Ricky Hendrick’s birthday.

Another Hendrick car was dominant early on, as William Byron took command early and hardly looked back. The 24 would win Stage 1, and was on track to sweep both Stages. Late in Stage 2 however, Toyotas rose to the occasion. Christopher Bell briefly led until Denny Hamlin came to take the Stage 2 win.

Hamlin vs. Byron was the battle up front to start Stage 3, and that fight remained constant. Byron would fade though, with Martin Truex Jr. then emerging. Through a pit cycle with 100 to go, Truex maintained ahead of Byron and Kyle Larson. The 11 would also be set back with a slow stop in this cycle and a speeding penalty in the final trip down pit road.

As the race hit 50 laps left, the leaders went through the final pit cycle and this put the 24 back ahead of the 19. Byron would only lose control by coming out fourth in a late caution pit sequence. Despite leading a race-high 117 laps, Byron would not get a strong finish. The next restart saw the 24 spin after he was put three-wide into turn one. Byron would get relegated to a dismal 24th-place result.

This same pit road cycle that saw Byron fall back was great for two of his teammates. Kyle Larson and Josh Berry would both come out ahead of Truex. Even one more restart could not keep these two fast short-run cars at bay, as the 5 and 9 proved unstoppable. After a few close winning chances, Kyle Larson finally gets back to victory lane in 2023.

“It’s really cool, we’ve been close to winning a couple,” Larson said. “William (Byron) has been really good this year, and it was probably going to be between him, the 19, us, and the 20 was really good too. Things just worked out, my pit crew had a great stop, so shoutout to our jackman Brandon Johnson, who turned 30 today. Our spotter, Tyler Monn, also turned 30 today. Great day for them guys. What an awesome Hendrickcars.com Chevy, I just can’t say enough about it.

“I got into the 99 on pit road there back in the second stage, and we were awful after that. I was hoping the damage was the reason why. They had to calm me down a little bit, get me refocused, and was able to get it done.

“Thanks to everyone on this team, Cliff Daniels for everything he does to prepare the team to be as strong as we are without him on the box. Good to get a win, and hopefully many more.”

As the sixth NASCAR Cup Series winner this season, Larson is the sixth driver to lock up a coveted Playoff spot through only seven weeks. With their teammate Alex Bowman also leading the regular season standings, things are firing on all cylinders for Hendrick Motorsports.

Behind Larson and Berry at the finish, the top-10 from Richmond were: Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, and Brad Keselowski. Hear from some of these drivers below.

Up next for the NASCAR Cup Series is a track Larson where should be favored, Bristol Dirt. The Food City Dirt Race will go green Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Through two years of the dirty Tennessee race, we’ve seen two new winners. Can we see this trend continue and another Playoff spot taken?

Written by Peter Stratta

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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports