NASCAR
Kyle Larson Wins at Las Vegas, Makes Second Championship 4
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a microcosm of the 2023 season for Kyle Larson. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the class of the field, leading the most laps. A costly error by Larson nearly ended their blistering run though. Their pit crew dug in and put them back on point in crunch time though. With a faster car charging late too, Larson just narrowly hung on for a Las Vegas victory and Championship 4 ticket. The 2021 champions will be racing in three weeks for their second title after a wire-to-wire Las Vegas win.
After starting second, Larson took command early on from polesitter Christopher Bell. Being set back though, the 5 had to battle forward on a late restart for the Stage 1 win.
Larson would go on to a Stage-sweeping day, but driver 5 nearly lost it all in the second Stage. While chasing down Brad Keselowski from second, Larson’s car stepped sideways off of turn two, making slight wall contact. Once his crew put on new tires though, Larson rocketed by the 6 for a Stage 2 victory.
A huge slide from @KyleLarsonRacin while running second! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/pCCIUY2zCJ
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 15, 2023
Later on Larson’s pit crew came in clutch when it mattered most. The 5 left pit road with the lead just outside of 50 laps remaining. Christopher Bell would eventually retake second-place however, and slowly begin to chip away at Larson’s lead. A two-second advantage for the 5 soon shrank down to mere car lengths, with Bell being on Larson’s bumper at the white flag.
As hard as Bell tried to will his way forward and into the Championship 4, Larson was able to block the 20’s runs through turns three and four and hang on for the victory. The 5’s winning margin was only 82 thousandths of a second.
Bell's late rally isn't enough! @KyleLarsonRacin wins at @LVMotorSpeedway! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/nLiBHGxrdk
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 15, 2023
Larson and the Hendrick 5 team are now locked into the Championship 4 for the first time since 2021, when they won the Bill France Cup.
“I could see him coming in my mirror for sure,” Larson said. “I was hoping those lappers were going to give me the bottom. The 38 peeled off to the bottom and I knew I couldn’t follow him. I just didn’t want to go all the way to the top and leave the middle open. Thankfully Christopher’s always races extremely clean. It could’ve gotten crazier than it did coming to the start/finish line. Thank you to him for racing with respect there.”
“What a job done by my team too, just a great racecar. I almost gave it away there in (turns) one and two, getting sideways and getting the wall. Had to fight back from there with our balance. They got it much closer there in the lead. I was happy to pull away as much as we did, and was hoping that was going to be enough to maintain. It was, but I thought (Bell) wasn’t going to be able to get as close as he did there at the end. Nerve-racking but thanks to Chevrolet, Hendrickcars.com, JINYA Ramen Bar, Valvoline, and everybody involved in this deal. This is really cool to get to go race for another championship here in a few weeks. Glad that we don’t have to stress over these next two races.”
Behind Larson and Bell, the top-five was made up on non-Playoff drivers Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, and Ross Chastain. Contenders Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-10. The only Playoff driver not in the top-10 was 11th-place Chris Buescher.
Thanks to his second career Las Vegas triumph, Larson is now locked into the Championship 4 at Phoenix. Seven other drivers are gunning to be one of the three to join the 5 team in the Championship finale. The updated standings are here, with four drivers only separated by 11 points.
The Round of 8’s second race will be Sunday from Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil1 goes green at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Much like his championship season two years ago, Larson could easily go back-to-back in the semifinal round. Larson was also untouchable at Homestead last year. It will take a championship-caliber effort to dethrone the king of Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter
Photo Credit to Hendrick Motorsports on Twitter
