Perfect final pit stop seals title for Larson
Phoenix win clinches season crown
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson won.
No surprise, right? He was, after all, the overwhelming 2-1 betting favorite to win NASCAR’S season-ending championship race.
Suspended nearly all of last season for using a racial slur, Larson closed his comeback season in NASCAR with his first Cup Series championship Sunday by with a title-winning victory at Phoenix Raceway.
Larson was in tears during his cooldown laps as he reflected on his rebuild from out-of-work driver to NASCAR champion.
“Eighteen months ago, I didn’t even think I’d be in a
Cup car again. Strapping in for the Daytona 500 didn’t even seem real, let alone winning the championship,” Larson said. “It’s definitely been a journey, a roller coaster. I’m very thankful for my second chance and every opportunity I’ve been given in these last 18 months. Life’s a crazy thing. Just stay positive through it.”
Larson led seven times for a race-high 108 laps but was running fourth, last among the title contenders, as teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin controlled the championship late in a pair of Toyotas.
Then a caution reset everything.
Because he won the pole
Saturday in qualifying, Larson had the first stall on pit road and the shortest sprint back onto the track of the four title contenders. He silently prayed for a flawless service call from his Hendrick Motorsports crew to get the No. 5 Chevrolet back on track ahead of his three title rivals.
Wow, did the No. 5 team deliver.
Larson’s crew performed its second-fastest stop of the season — a span that stretches 38 races — and Larson went from last among the final four to first.
“I knew the only way we were going to pull it off is if our pit crew got us off as a leader, and damn, they did. That was just crazy,” Larson said. “Those guys nailed the pit stop.”
Larson controlled the restart with 25 laps remaining and then held off several of Truex’s challenges. There was no stopping Larson, just as he’s been impossible to stop all season, and he drove to his 10th Cup victory of the year.
“There were so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win,” Larson said. “Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They are the true winners of this race. They are true champions.”
Truex, the 2017 champion, finished second and was followed by Hamlin, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate.