NASCAR competed in the Sunflower State this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Larson arrived as the defending 2024 spring race winner, a race he won by just 0.001 seconds – the closest finish in NASCAR history. Larson successfully defended his victory at the 1.5-mile track, but this time, it wasn’t close.
Race weekend started strong for Larson as he drove the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session, the 22nd pole award of his Cup Series career. At the start of Sunday’s 400-mile race, Larson led the field as the green flag waved. After an early caution at lap seven, the No. 5 team chose to stay on the track and lead the field at the lap-10 restart. Just shy of the halfway point of the first stage, a green-flag pit cycle began, prompting Crew Chief Cliff Daniels to call Larson down pit road for four tires and fuel. Less than ten laps later, Larson cycled back to the lead and defended his position to win the race’s first stage.
During the stage break, Daniels called Larson back to pit road for four tires and fuel. Larson led the field back to green with 77 laps remaining in the second stage. With 40 laps left, Larson was still in the lead when Daniels summoned him to pit road for another set of tires and fuel. It took Larson only five laps to regain the lead. However, he soon learned from his Crew Chief that the tires removed during the last stop were “pretty used up.” Larson continued to run up front while being cautious of his tire use. Despite the issues, Larson led the next 35 laps to claim consecutive stage wins.
At this point, Larson was informed that he had reached an impressive career milestone - 10,000 laps led in the Cup Series. He became just the third active driver to achieve this feat, joining Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
Despite dominating most of the race, Larson’s tire struggles continued. When pit road opened, Larson geared up for the third and final stage with four new tires, fuel, and a slight chassis adjustment.
During the restart, Larson took the outside lane of the front row before settling into second place behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott. When a caution flag flew with 73 laps to go, Larson was in third. Under the yellow, Daniels called the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to pit road for fresh tires, fuel, and another slight adjustment.
The race resumed with 67 laps to go, but before the field could complete a full lap, the caution flag waved again. Larson was leading at the time of the caution and lined up first for the restart. After another string of cautions, the race resumed for the final time with 49 laps remaining, with Larson leading and his teammate Alex Bowman pushing from behind. Despite persistent tire issues and vibrations from his No. 5 Chevy, Larson defended his lead to capture his third Cup win of the 2025 season.
“Yeah, it was tough. I could get out to a good lead, and I could kind of manage my tires,” said Larson after the race. “But Chase (Elliott) was really good at the end of the long runs. We decided to take control of the race, and we kind of lost it a little bit there. We had some restarts work out in our favor, and that last run just played out well enough to get the win. I wasn’t very good again at the end of the run, but I am just proud of my team and proud of this HendrickCars.com Chevy team. It’s just been an awesome day.”
New Points Leader
Larson’s dominant performance at Kansas included 221 laps led, stage sweeps, and the race’s fastest lap time, leading to a significant gain in points. As a result, Larson now sits at the top of the Cup Series standings with a 35-point lead over his Hendrick Motorsports counterpart, William Byron.
Next Up
The Cup Series will line up for the annual NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway next Sunday, May 18. The following week, Larson will attempt to race the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day – a daunting challenge dubbed the “Hendrick 1100.” With practices, qualifying sessions, and driver appearances scheduled throughout, it’s set to be an exciting and action-packed couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for future news, updates, and announcements regarding Larson’s pursuit of the Hendrick 1100!
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