kyle larson Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service DARLINGTON, S.C. – Holding off regular-season champion Kyle Larson throughout a thrilling final green-flag run in Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Denny Hamlin is winless in 2021 no more. Hamlin maintained control of his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as Larson buried his No. 5 Chevrolet into Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Larson gave Hamlin a tap, but Hamlin blocked the top lane and got to the finish line .212 seconds ahead of the runner-up. “He droveRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor After a wild weekend in Daytona to wrap up the regular season and set the 16-driver field for the Playoffs, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of the crown jewels on the circuit, Darlington Raceway, for this weekend’s running of the Cook Out Southern 500. A staple of the Cup Series since 1950, there are many elements to Darlington that make it a special track. From the egg-shape of the track that features one end narrower than the other as a result of building theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Cup Series regular season comes to an end right where it all began back in February as Daytona International Speedway is set to host Saturday night’s running of the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Two battles will be taking place on Saturday as Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are set to duke it out for the regular season championship, while just one spot remains up for grabs in the Playoffs. Of the drivers still looking to race their way in, TylerRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Ryan Blaney took the lead on a restart with eight laps remaining and skillfully held off a frantic field to earn the victory Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in the penultimate race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. Those eight laps out front were the only laps Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford led on the afternoon but it was good enough to give him his second victory of the season – by a modern-day track record marginRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The end of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season is in sight with just two races remaining before the Playoff field is set. After a stretch of road course races, the series returns to an oval this weekend with Sunday’s running of the Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. With this race taking place near the home of two of the three manufacturers (Chevrolet and Ford), teams put extra emphasis on winning here for bragging rights. The two-mile speedway tends to favor the teams thatRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – Is it better to be lucky than good? For Kyle Larson, Sunday at Indianapolis was a bit of both. Coming into Sunday’s Verizon 200 on the IMS road course in a dead heat with Denny Hamlin for the regular season points lead, Larson looked to be on a leisurely drive around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course en route to yet another win before the late stages of the race took a weird turn toward chaos, seemingly taking him out of contention. However, when theRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service INDIANAPOLIS – The first NASCAR Cup Series road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was full of drama – for A.J. Allmendinger, who led only the last two laps of overtime to secure his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, and for those who fell short of the cherished trophy in an action-packed final few laps. Denny Hamlin was leading the race on the final restart with two laps to go before being hit from behind by rookie Chase Briscoe in Turn 10,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – When the NASCAR Cup Series takes to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the first time on Sunday afternoon, William Byron will be the driver that gets to lead them to the green after scoring the pole for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. After timing in fourth quickest during the first round of qualifying, Byron turned up the wick in the second round, charging around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile infield road course in 1 minute, 27.765 seconds to boost his No. 24 HendrickRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for its annual trip to the Racing Capital of the World, but this time there’s a twist. Instead of racing on the iconic 2.5-mile oval for Year No. 28 at the Brickyard, NASCAR’s best will join their counterparts from the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NTT IndyCar Series in running on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile infield road course in what will be an action-filled tripleheader weekend. It will be uncharted territory for the majority ofRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson had to navigate lapped traffic in the closing laps and hold off his hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott – the track’s most prolific winner of late – to earn the victory in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen. But the 28-year old Californian Larson has been a driver to count on this season, finishing either first or second 10 times through the 23 races to date.  And Sunday’s trophy at the historic Watkins Glen International road course is Larson’s NASCAR Cup Series-bestRead More