Kyle Larson entered Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway holding a narrow five-point lead in The Chase. By the time the checkered flag waved, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com extended that advantage to 73 points with a thrilling overtime victory.
Larson secured his third victory of The Chase in dramatic fashion, charging from 11th to first in the final moments, snapping a 59-race winless streak on drafting-style tracks and leading a one-two finish for Hendrick Motorsports in the process.
Race Recap
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team began the eighth race of The Chase in 10th. As Larson navigated a tightly packed field, fuel conservation quickly played a key role. This helped Larson steadily advance his position, moving into the top five and remaining in contention as the laps wound down in the race’s opening stage. He finished stage one in fourth place and earned seven valuable points.
The second stage presented an early setback when a penalty for entering pit road too soon dropped Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to 19th for the restart. Undeterred, Larson climbed back into the top 10 and began a charge toward the front, moving into the top five and taking control of the bottom lane. Following a multi-car accident on the backstretch, Larson lined up for a late-stage restart from the front. He held his position through the closing laps before narrowly missing out on the stage two victory, finishing second and collecting nine additional points.
Following a four-tire and fuel pit stop between stages, Larson restarted 15th with 40 laps remaining. He quickly worked his way through the pack and regained the lead with just over 30 laps to go. Larson continued to lead for much of the closing run but was shuffled back through the field before a major crash on the frontstrech brought out the red flag with seven laps remaining and sent the race into NASCAR overtime.
After avoiding “The Big One,” Larson lined up on the front row for the overtime finish. He took the white flag in the lead before falling back to 11th on the final lap. Refusing to give up, he charged through the final corner and surged past seven cars in the final quarter mile alone, taking the checkered flag just 0.041 seconds ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron and completing a remarkable comeback.
“That was a great green-white-checkered there,” said Larson following the victory. “Thanks to my team, Cliff Daniels, my spotter Tyler for staying patient with me through this speedway stuff. Thanks to my fans also for staying patient with me to get a speedway win. Talladega has a sick trophy. I’m glad to take it home.”
The thrilling victory at Talladega extended Larson’s lead in The Chase standings to 73 points, strengthening his position in the championship battle with just two races remaining.
Larson put it plainly during his post-race interview: “What a day. What a day.”
Up Next
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team will look to carry their momentum into the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series season at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 1 (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
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