Kyle Larson is going to be a busy man driving at breakneck speeds over the next 11 days.
The California native will be splitting time between his dirt sprint car at various tracks around the country, testing and qualifying at Indianapolis for the Indy 500, attending and racing the NASCAR All Star Race at North Wilkesboro this coming weekend and then begin prep for running the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
Has your brain caught its breath or wrapped itself around all of that information?
If so, your brain did better than the rest of the field trying to catch Larson on Sunday as the Hendrick Motorsports driver piloting the No. 5 Chevrolet, dominated Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway and picked up his third win of the season.
After securing the pole position on Saturday, Larson led for a commanding 221 of the 267 laps.
The victory ties him with Christopher Bell for the most wins so far this year.
It’s also Larson’s third career win at the 1.5-mile Kansas City track and his 32nd Cup Series victory overall, placing him alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett at 29th on the all-time wins list.
“Great car, great execution today, too, for our team,” Larson commented, looking ahead to his attempt at the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double later in May. “Glad to not win by an inch right here this time and a little bit safer gap. But thanks again to the team. Congrats to all of Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, everybody there.”
The race saw Larson achieve several notable milestones. He surpassed 10,000 career laps led, reaching a total of 10,073, a figure only trailing active full-time drivers Kyle Busch (19,440) and Denny Hamlin (15,613). By sweeping both the first and second stages, Larson now holds the record for the most stage wins (eight) within the first 12 races of a Cup season. This stage sweep was the 14th of his career.
Larson’s consistent performance has propelled him to the top of the series standings with a 35-point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who finished 24th after an early flat tire put him a lap down.
Despite his dominant performance, the final 49-lap green-flag run presented a challenge for Larson as he managed his right-side tires. His once comfortable two-second lead over Christopher Bell in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota narrowed to just 0.712 seconds at the checkered flag. Ryan Blaney, driving the No. 12 Penske Ford, closed in quickly to finish third, only 0.832 seconds behind Larson.
“I was trying really hard to pace myself, because I believe that was our longest run of the day,” Larson explained. “I’d been struggling a little bit at the end of the runs. I don’t know if it was paying off or not at the end. I was still struggling. I don’t know if the right front was starting to wear a lot or what, but I was starting to lose a lot of grip, and then I was vibrating really bad, so I was afraid a right rear or something would let go.”
For Christopher Bell, the runner-up finish, while respectable, wasn’t entirely satisfying. “I didn’t feel like we were very good today,” Bell admitted. “We qualified well, had good pit stops, never really had any issues to set us back. But on the track, we were constantly going the wrong direction instead of going forward. But everyone fought hard on this Reser’s Camry and got us a good finish. I don’t know. I’m sure I will be a lot happier about it tomorrow and later in the week, but just didn’t feel like we were very good, and we were still right there, so I think that’s a testament to how good this team is.”
A pivotal moment in the final stage involved Brad Keselowski in the No. 6 RFK Racing Ford. Following a quick pit stop, Keselowski restarted in fourth and quickly moved into third, then battled Larson for second, ultimately taking the position on Lap 179. Keselowski then set his sights on race leader Chase Elliott, closing the gap from nearly two seconds to 0.913 seconds. However, on Lap 195, his right-front tire blew, sending him hard into the Turn 1 wall. The damage was significant, and Keselowski finished in 37th place, still searching for his first top 10 finish and lap led of the season.
Keselowski’s misfortune benefited Larson, who regained control of the race. Elliott, in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, had taken the lead after pit stops on Lap 169 and built a comfortable advantage after a restart on Lap 174. However, during the pit stops under the caution for Keselowski’s wreck, Elliott’s crew encountered a problem with the right rear tire, causing him to lose 11 positions on the subsequent restart on Lap 201. He ultimately faded to finish 15th.
Chase Briscoe, driving the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Toyota, secured his fourth fourth-place finish of the season. Alex Bowman in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet scraped the wall late in the race but managed to finish fifth. Ford drivers Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher and Joey Logano rounded out the top nine. John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota finished 10th, marking his second consecutive top 10 on an intermediate track.
The AdventHealth 400 saw a total of seven caution flags for 37 laps, with four cautions occurring in the final stage. Elliott led 29 laps, the only driver other than Larson to lead more than four laps.
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