Larson’s Xfinity win first at track
LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson appears ready for another memorable West Coast swing after kicking it off with his latest NASCAR Xfinity Series win.
Larson overcame strong wind and two late restarts Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn the ninth Xfinity Series win of his career. The 25-year-old Californian earned his first win at the track where he finished second in both the Cup Series and second-tier Xfinity races last year.
Larson took the lead on the opening lap and led 142 of the 200 laps in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. He avoided any fuel budgeting trouble late in the race when Ryan Reed blew a tire with 16 laps to go, allowing him to gas up for the final push.
Series rookie Christopher Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, with Justin Allgaier third in a Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney, the pole-sitter for today’s Monster Energy Cup series race, was fourth and followed by Elliott Sadler.
Larson capably navigated wind gusts topping 25 mph on the north end of the Strip to earn his fifth consecutive topthree finish in Xfinity Series races.
“This race car is so fast,” Larson said. “It was really fast last year, but you never really know. This was my first time with this body, and it performed well.”
Larson was phenomenal during NASCAR’s three-race trip out West last season. He finished second in the 2017 Cup Series races at Las Vegas and ISM Raceway near Phoenix before winning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where he also was first in the Xfinity race.
Big win for Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch’s latest racing milestone couldn’t have come in a better place.
Busch earned the 50th Camping World Truck Series victory of his NASCAR career late Friday night, winning the Stratosphere 200 in his hometown.
The Las Vegas took advantage when Brett Moffitt, last week’s winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway, went sideways with 26 laps left. Busch, who had been fighting to overtake Moffitt in the third and final stage of the race, took control on a restart with 12 laps to go.
Moffitt pushed Busch on the final laps, but Busch held off Moffitt, who was caught up in lapped traffic with less than five laps left.
Johnny Sauter wound up second after Moffit fell to third, followed by Grant Enfinger and Stewart Friesen.
“It was really, really fast. I felt like we were struggling just a little bit in the long run,” said Busch, who owns his Truck Series team. “It’s been a lot of fun to win these races, especially with your own team and being with your own guys.”
Busch, who started in pole position and led 55 laps, has a career sweep in Las Vegas, winning NASCAR events in all three national series. His 50 truck wins have come in 142 series starts.
The 32-year-old driver finished 14th in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. He leads the second-tier series in career wins with 91.
He has 43 victories in the top-tier Cup Series and won the season championship in 2015. He was third in 2016 and second last year.