Unstoppable in Kansas, Kyle Larson cruises to a dominant NASCAR Cup win

Nothing was going to deny Kyle Larson the NASCAR Cup win at Kansas on Sunday. After starting from pole position, he won both stages, collected the fastest lap, and claimed an impressive win, leading 221 of 267 laps in the process. And to top it all off, Larson now leaves the weekend in control of the regular season championship.

“I was trying really hard to pace myself because I believe that was our longest run of the day,” said Larson, who had to carefully manage his tires in the closing laps. “I’ve been struggling a little bit at the end of the runs. Chase [Elliott] was really good so I felt like I just needed to try and be better on my end. I don’t know if it was paying off 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. I was afraid a right rear or something would let go. But yeah, great car and great execution today from our team.”

Larson crossed a notable milestone on Sunday as well, leading his 10,000th lap in NASCAR Cup Series competition. He’ll have a very busy two weeks in front of him now between the All-Star Race, followed by NASCAR’s longest race and the Indianapolis 500 as Larson aims to both qualify for the prestigious race and — finally — complete ‘The Double’ of running the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on the same day.

Christopher Bell finished second on Sunday, Ryan Blaney third, Chase Briscoe fourth, and Alex Bowman fifth. Josh Berry, Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top ten.

Of note, Corey Heim finished a career-best 13th, leading the effort for 23XI Racing after the organization put together a four-car effort for Kansas.

A rash of yellows shake up the final stage

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Things got a bit dicey for Larson in the final stage after losing the lead on pit road to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott. As things got back underway, Brad Keselowski moved into second place as he tried to dig himself out of a horrendous points hole. He was closing in on Elliott for the race lead when disaster struck, blowing a tire and crashing out of the race.

The pit stop sequence that followed saw Elliott lose the lead after a slow stop with Bell inheriting the top spot. Denny Hamlin, who was struggling with clutch issues, stalled trying to leave his box and fell out of the race.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Photo by: Chris Graythen – Getty Images

Fresh off his Texas victory, Logano made a big move for the race lead on the ensuing restart, but his charge was halted by an incident in the back. Cody Ware spun after contact, collecting Ty Dillon and Daniel Suarez.

Kyle Busch was the next driver to find trouble, spinning out after being on the wrong end of a four-wide situation down the backstretch. The final caution of the race followed soon after with Justin Haley and Erik Jones coming together at the exit of Turn 2, collecting Bubba Wallace and Austin Dillon as well.

Even with the cautions, the final run proved to be the longest of the day. Larson remained firmly in command, but tire concerns were ever-present as Carson Hocevar (who won Saturday’s Truck race) was forced to pit with a flat. Larson slowed quite a bit in the final two laps, allowing Bell and Blaney to close rapidly as he managed the tire wear all the way to the checkered flag.

Before the late-race flurry of yellows, it was surprisingly green through the first two stages.

Photos from Kansas – Race