Larson takes command of NASCAR Cup Chase with determined Kansas win

Kyle Larson made a statement in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

Retaking the lead from Chase Briscoe with seven laps left, Larson won for the second time in three races and took control of the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1.

Larson’s fourth victory at the 1.5-mile track left him 26 points ahead of second-place Denny Hamlin, who entered the Chase as the top seed. Christopher Bell is 50 points back in third after finishing sixth on Sunday.

“I really thought when Chase got by, he was just going to stretch out, but I got some lines going where I could settle in and try to take care of my tires,” said Larson, who lost the lead to Briscoe on lap 238 of 267. “I don't know. I think it's just easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted.

“With me out front, I'm just defending and trying to guess on what lines are fast. When he got in front of me, I could see he started getting really loose. Yeah, that was fun. That was such a good day. Max points. I was going to be happy with second with how the race went, but to get the lead, that's a big deal for the points.”

The victory was Larson’s second of the season and 34th of his career, tying him with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. for 26th all-time.

Though Larson, the defending series champion, won the first two stages, led 235 laps, and set the fastest lap (30.076s on lap 2) to score a maximum 76 points for the day, the win was hardly a foregone conclusion after the final cycle of green-flag pit stops.

After following Briscoe to pit road on lap 216 with a last-second call, Larson regained the top spot at the end of the pit cycle, but he scraped the wall early in the final run. Briscoe ran Larson down from 1.5s back and passed the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the lead on lap 238.

Briscoe held the top spot for 23 laps, but his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota developed a loose condition late in the run, and Larson made up the ground he had lost. On lap 261, Larson darted to the inside of Briscoe’s Camry and completed the winning pass.

Contact with the wall cost Briscoe in the final laps, as both runner-up Austin Cindric and third-place Hamlin passed him on the way to the checkered flag. Briscoe held fourth, followed by Ryan Blaney, who is now fifth in the standings, 91 points behind Larson.

“Yeah, just went really, really loose,” Briscoe said of the closing laps. “I kind of had that the run before when we did the green-flag pit stop. I got it in the wall so many times that I had a little bit of a leak. Just went really, really free ultimately.

“It was better for me to be in second. Just being behind [Larson], especially with how much he was aero blocking, it would just tighten me up and allow me to actually be a little bit better. And then as soon as I would get the lead, I would just go really, really free again.

“So, yeah, frustrating for sure. Yeah, just felt like I had a win there to stay in contention for a championship, and obviously now losing, I don't know, 123 points back [in eighth place], that's probably not going to happen.”

With perhaps the fastest long-run car in the race, Cindric closed to 0.565s behind Larson at the finish.

Cindric, however, lost time on the track by pitting one lap later than Larson and Briscoe. He was 4.6s down to the leader when pit stops cycled out and spent the rest of the race trying to close the gap.

“I just feel like that cycle could have gone better for us,” Cindric said. “I feel like just the way it all played out with three cars coming in front, and I slipped through the box a little bit, having some stuff on my tires. I could have done a better job there.

“When you only lose by half a second, I wish I would have had at least a shot at it. I felt like we could have at least joined the fun at least. But, no, proud of the effort and great points for today.”

Cindric scored 52 points to Larson’s 76 and is tied with Bubba Wallace for ninth in the Chase standings, 140 points behind Larson.

Behind Bell, William Byron ran seventh, followed by Chase Elliott, Wallace and Ryan Preece. Tyler Reddick made a remarkable recovery after running 33rd in his ill-handling Toyota early in the race and finished 11th. Reddick’s rally could have been even better, but for a blown pit stop under green in the final cycle.

Joey Logano, who started from the pole by the rule book when rain washed out time trials, finished 20th and fell from third to fourth in the standings, a distant 67 points out of the lead.

Ten of the 16 Chase drivers are now 111 points or more behind Larson, with 14th-place finisher Daniel Suarez 187 points down in 16th place.

After finishing fourth in Stage 1, Bristol pugilist Carson Hocevar was part of a six-car restart wreck on Lap 122. With severe damage to the splitter on his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Hocevar finished 33rd and dropped three spots to 11th in the standings, 150 points in arrears.

RESULTS