NASCAR
Kyle Larson Goes Back-to-Back in Spring Kansas Race
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The talk of the town all weekend long, Kyle Larson left no box unchecked at Kansas Speedway. The HendrickCars.Com No. 5 Chevrolet started Sunday from pole, won both stages, and took the fastest lap honors in a max-points day. Now tied as NASCAR’s winningest man of 2025, Larson has firmly asserted himself as a title favorite once again.
Polesitter Kyle Larson was dominant across the first half, sweeping both stages in dominant fashion. His Hendrick teammate William Byron ran into issues late in the opening stage, however. The No. 24 cut a right rear tire while running second, and lost all track position.
Larson appeared to be in his own zip code, until the closing laps of Stage 2. Chase Elliott closed right up to the No. 5’s bumper in lapped traffic, and took over on pit road between stages.
Stage 3 initially saw Elliott take control, but a pit road miscue set the 9 back. This combined with Brad Keselowski blowing a tire from second place allowed Larson to regain command almost uncontested.
Several back-to-back cautions after Keselowski’s issue kept the field bunched together, but the 5 nailed every restart.
With no late yellow, Larson cruised to a third checkered flag of the season and back-to-back Kansas spring triumphs.
A 32nd career Cup victory for Larson equals NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett. Larson is now tied as well as Kansas Speedway’s second-most winningest driver all-time, with 221 laps led being a race record here.
“I was trying really hard to pace myself because I believe that was our longest run of the day,” Larson said. “I had been struggling a little bit at the end of the runs too. Chase [Elliott] was really good, and so I felt like I just needed to try to be better on my end. I don’t know if it was paying off or not at the end, I was still struggling. Don’t know if the right front was starting to wear a lot or what. I was starting to lose a lot of grip, then I was vibrating really bad. I was afraid the right rear or something would let go. But great car, great execution today too for our team.”
“Thanks to all you race fans for coming out. This is awesome weather to get to watch a cool race. Glad to not win by an inch right here this time, and a little bit safer gap.”
“[Momentum] has to help a little bit, but everything’s so different at Indy. The cars are different, but I look forward to getting there now. We’re going to fly there tonight and celebrate with Katelyn. Happy Mother’s Day to her and all the moms out there, my mom especially. It’s cool to win here at Kansas. Now we’ll try and execute a good two weeks start at Indy.”
As mentioned above, Larson had tire concerns on the last lap, allowing Christopher Bell to close within seven tenths of the 5’s bumper. They just edged out Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, and Alex Bowman. The rest of the top-10 were: Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, and John Hunter Nemechek.
Points-paying championship events may take a two week pause, but NASCAR’s million dollar night is up next. For a third-straight year, the NASCAR All-Star Race roars into North Wilkesboro Speedway. Kyle Larson will arrive there fresh off Indy 500 qualifying, and try to pocket his fourth big check. Race coverage starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credits to Jamie Squire/Getty Images
