Larson tops Harvick to win All-Star event

Kyle Larson got a push to the front from Kevin Harvick in the final stage, then held off the defending champion to win the NASCAR All-Star Race last night in Concord, N.C.

Larson advanced into the prime-time spectacle by winning the Monster Energy Open earlier at Charlotte Motor Speedway, then kept near the top until the nextto-last restart when he was in sixth position. That’s when Larson slipped between Kyle Busch and Joey Logano before Harvick pushed him hard to the front.

Larson earned the $1 million first prize and got a measure of success in a season best remembered for his going airborne and barrel rolling a half-dozen times in a scary, last-lap crash at Talladega Superspeedway last month.

Harvick was second, Busch third, Logano fourth and Bubba Wallace fifth . ...

Fernando Alonso and McLaren are in serious danger of missing the Indianapolis 500 after a rocky first day of qualifying.

Alonso needed four attempts to crack the top 30 that would have locked him into the field for the May 26 race. But Graham Rahal made a final qualifying effort at the buzzer and knocked Alonso out of the field.

Alonso and five other drivers will have one chance today to snag the final three spots in the 33-driver field.

Alonso will be joined in the “Last Row Shootout” by James Hinchcliffe, who last year was bumped out of the race when qualifying was just one day. Hinchcliffe crashed on his first qualifying attempt and couldn’t get his backup to the speed needed.