Kyle Larson started second on Sunday in the 90-lap race at Watkins Glen International that began on a wet track in rainy conditions. On lap 4, the defending race winner missed a section of the track known as the “bus stop.” After stopping in the runoff area to serve his penalty, Larson rejoined the field in sixth. One lap later, drivers began hitting pit road to change onto “slicks” – racing tires with no grooves – in hopes of setting faster laps on the drying track. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels radioed that they would run longer on rain tires and pit within a fuel window that allowed them to make it to the end of the race on a two-stop strategy. The team’s first pit stop occurred on lap 17 and the HendrickCars.com driver returned to the track in 30th. He crossed the line three laps later at the end of stage one in 29th.
Some of the leaders pitted during the stage break which allowed Larson to restart 20th at lap 23. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion quickly moved up the scoring pylon, running 15th by lap 27. On lap 35, Larson was scored ninth before finishing eighth when stage two ended on lap 40.
Three drivers ahead of Larson made stops during the stage break, so he took the green for the final stage in fifth on lap 44. The 30-year-old driver jumped up to third on lap 48 and ran in that position until Daniels called Larson to pit road for his final stop on lap 55. The Elk Grove, California, native returned to the track in 18th, but was up to second when green-flag pit stops were completed at lap 72.
When a caution waved at lap 78, Larson was able to close the gap to race leader Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates restarted alongside each other on lap 81, but the day’s final caution waved shortly after the restart. The final restart on lap 85 again had the pair on the front row, but Larson was able to grab the advantage off of turn 1 before leading the final five laps to capture the victory.
It was a double for Larson this weekend as he rallied from the rear of the field to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday. After starting from the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment to fix an engine issue in his No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, Larson finished ninth in stage one and third in stage two before securing the victory in the 82-lap event.
QUOTING KYLE LARSON:
“I figured it was probably going to be the last restart of the weekend. I told myself if I had a nose ahead of [Chase Elliott] before we got to the braking zone, I was going to have to try my best to maintain that, not let him get a nose ahead of me, pinch my corner off and end my chance of winning.
I had a good restart. I got in there hot but I feel like I had to execute that way to get the win.
“If we can continue to have days like today over the next 11 races where we execute as good as we can, call a great race with pit strategy, do a great job on our pit stops, every restart move forward and bring a fast race car again to the track, I’m pretty confident that we can go contend for another championship.”
NEXT RACE:
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team now head to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the final regular season race. Racing under the lights in the Sunshine State takes place Saturday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on NBC.
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