Rome News-Tribune

NASCAR

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from B1

Joey Logano finished third. He beat Elliott in last June’s race at MIS. Then Elliott was leading the August race comfortabl­y before a yellow flag gave Larson a boost.

This time, there were three cautions toward the end. The first was for debris, and Larson beat Kyle Busch on the inside for the lead on the restart with 15 laps to go.

Then Clint Bowyer went into the wall, bringing out another caution flag. Larson was first off that restart too, only to be slowed by another caution after a multicar incident on the backstretc­h that included Danica Patrick

being knocked off the track and into the wall.

Finally, with five laps remaining, the race restarted, and Larson took the lead on the outside. He won by 0.993 seconds in his No. 42 Chevrolet.

Martin Truex Jr. won the first two stages of the race but finished sixth, ceding the points lead to Larson. Truex has 10 stage victories this year. Nobody else has more than four.

Truex and Larson were 1-2 in the points standings coming into the race, and Truex was second to Larson in qualifying Friday. Their dominance carried over to the race Sunday, at least at the start. They were the only drivers to lead during the first half of the 200-lap, 400-mile race.

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