NASCAR
Kyle Larson Leaves North Wilkesboro All-Star Race Competition in Dust
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. – Kyle Larson was the man to beat once again at North Wilkesboro. Picking up right where he left off in Saturday’s Truck race, Larson pulls off a weekend sweep, taking home the All-Star Race $1 million check. Larson now has three of the last five All-Star wins, each coming on a different track.
An early caution on lap 17 proved to be the turning point of the 200-lap feature for Larson. Not only did the 5 pit with everyone for new tires, but Larson was also busted for speeding. Restarting in the tail of the field, Larson did not stay there long. The 5 was in command by lap 55, going from last to first in just over 30 laps. At the lap 100 competition break, Larson’s lead had amassed to over 12 seconds.
The second 100-lap segment was ran in its entirety without any cautions, causing Larson to cruise to a big lead again. In the closing laps, Bubba Wallace tried to catch the 5 but could not close the gap. Larson won North Wilkesboro’s first Cup Series race since 1996 by over four seconds.
The weight of this major win was not lost on Larson. The 2021 champion considers this unparalleled run of All-Star Race success one of his crowning NASCAR achievements.
“I can’t even tell you what it means,” Larson said. “This is my third All-Star win and my third different track. In an historical place like that, you guys and the crowd made this weekend so awesome. We could feel the atmosphere all weekend.”
“So much fun there. That was old-school ass whipping for sure. We had a great car on the long run there and was just thinking for sure there was going to be a caution. I got out to a big lead and I could see everybody’s cars were driving like crap in front of me, but I cannot thank this 5 team enough. We were God awful all weekend. Practice I was like the worst on 30-lap average, then went backwards in a heat race yesterday. You obviously had some strategy work out there in the beginning, but we drove from dead last to the lead and checked out by 12 or 13 seconds. Then just could pace myself there that last run.
“What an amazing car. Everything that my car did bad on Friday and Saturday did great today. Again, thanks to the 5 team, Cliff Daniels, Cal Stewart, too. Cal Stewart is our engineer. We bust his balls all the time because every time he’s at the track something bad happens.
“This one is for him. I told him the other day, he said he’s going to like five of the next six. I’m like, well, we’re going to win five of the next six at least, so here we go.”
Behind Larson, the All-Star Race top-10 were: Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano. Hear from some of these drivers below.
Kyle Larson is well poised for another championship run potentially on par with his 2021 season. His second win that year came at next weekend’s race–the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. The longest race of the year will go green Sunday at 6:00 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. If Larson’s incredible pace shows up in Charlotte, it could be a very long night for the competitors.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
