Larson dominant in Vegas
Kyle Larson has put himself in the playoffs after winning Sunday’s Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
On Sunday, Larson was the dominant driver in Vegas as he won all the stages. He also led for 181 laps and managed to keep Tyler Reddick at bay towards the end of the race. Reddick secured the second place. The race had six cautions and saw Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and William Byron finish in the top 10.
Reddick didn’t have the pace at the beginning of the stages, but towards the end of each stage, he was able to catch up with Larson. He finished second in stages one and two and began putting pressure on Larson to take the lead in the final 10 laps. Reddick managed to cut Larson’s one-second lead and came within two-tenths of a second with two laps left. However, Reddick couldn’t overtake Larson, and as Larson took the white flag, Reddick lost his momentum.
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A first in 3 years
Sunday marked the third time since 2021 that Larson led more than 100 laps at Las Vegas and won the race.
Hendrick Motorsports has emerged victorious in the last four spring races at Las Vegas. Larson has achieved two of these wins, while Alex Bowman and Byron have each clinched one.
The first traditional race of the season was marred by mistakes and unforeseen issues for other drivers with cars capable of winning.
Garbage on the track
Byron, the defending champion of the spring Las Vegas race, fell one lap behind in the opening stage when a large garbage bag flew onto the grill of his Chevrolet due to the wind. He had to make a pit stop as the temperature of his engine soared to 350 degrees.
Byron managed to make a comeback and secure a top-10 finish.
Kyle Busch managed to stay within the top 10 in all three stages and scored points in the first stage. However, a slow pit stop prevented Busch from scoring points in stage 2, and then a penalty for pitting outside his box in the final stage dropped him to 30th position and one lap behind the leaders. Busch eventually finished 26th.
Bubba’s tire wouldn’t budge
Bubba Wallace faced his problem on pit road. During the stage 2 pit stop, the team could not remove the left front tire because of a lug nut. The team attempted again during the stage 2 break and continued working into the final stage before finally getting the tire off. Wallace was able to return to the track but was 12 laps behind.
The Cup season continues on Sunday, March 10, at Phoenix Raceway.