Yahoo Autos Kyle Larson Leads 264 of 300 Laps, Wins at Nashville
What had been a dominant stretch for Hendrick Motorsports is quickly becoming, specifically, a dominant stretch for Kyle Larson.
Larson has now won three straight points-paying races, following up a streak of three straight runner-up finishes. Add in a win in the non-championship All-Star race last weekend and Larson has finished first or second in the last seven straight NASCAR Cup Series events. With that streak of dominance in mind, it should be no shock that he led 264 laps in today's 300-lap race at the Nashville Superspeedway.
Larson lost stage 1, but he was effectively never challenged from the moment he took the lead. He would lead stage 2 despite a threat from cars on an alternate strategy, and he would win the race with no real threat behind him at the end despite needing to save a little bit of fuel over the race's final stint. It was an easy day for Larson, one that further increased his playoff point advantage over the re
st of the field and further cemented his status as the current championship favorite.
The day was similarly strong for the rest of Hendrick Motorsports, the team that has over the past two months completely taken over NASCAR yet again. Chase Elliott won stage 1 en route to a 13th-place finish, William Byron charged to third after running in the top five all day, and Alex Bowman, the slowest of the team throughout the weekend, finished a respectable 15th.
Though none were ever a real threat to Larson, other standouts in the race include Ross Chastain (second), Aric Almirola (fourth), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (sixth), and Daniel Suarez (seventh). All four have a significant gap to make up if they want to make the playoffs on points, but the strong race is a building block to what could be a productive, potentially winning, Summer.
Nine races remain before the playoff field is set, a narrow window of just two and a half months for the rest of the field to catch Hendrick Motorsports before the final championship of this era of stock car racing is handed out. Two of those will be run next weekend, part of an innovative doubleheader for the Cup Series at Pocono.
You Might Also Like
