Larson extends streak, dominating at Nashville
Kyle Larson won again — that’s all he does these days — this time in the Cup debut at Nashville Superspeedway, where Hendrick Motorsports’ new star drove to victory lane for the fourth consecutive week.
Larson led 264 of 300 laps Sunday for his third consecutive win in a points race, fourth straight including last weekend’s All-Star race.
That win at Texas Motor Speedway kicked off a stretch of four wins in seven days as Larson collected the $1 million All-Star payout then traveled to Ohio to pocket the $6,000 purses in two sprint car races.
Rick Hendrick’s cars have been to victory lane six consecutive weeks dating to Alex Bowman’s May 9 win at Dover.
Nashville Superspeedway re-opened this weekend after a decade of dormancy to host its first ever Cup race. .
Next up for Larson is a trip to Brandon, S.D., for World of Outlaws races tonight and Tuesday.
“All of the racing helps for everything I do. I win a Cup race and it helps me for dirt racing,” Larson said. “I think just racing a lot — I’m in racing situations more than anybody else in the world, really — but especially in Cup and I think that helps me stay sharp, it helps me be aggressive and understand what things are doing and tracks changing.”
Larson’s fourth Cup points win of the season was the first with sponsor Valvoline on his hood, which marked just the third time in 17 races this season that Larson featured a non-Hendrick company on his car.
He’s largely unsponsored after missing all but four races last season during a NASCAR suspension for using a racial slur while participating in an online race.
Ross Chastain finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Hendrick driver William Byron was third in a Chevrolet podium sweep.
• Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap to win the French Grand Prix and extend his lead over his rival to 12 points.
Verstappen used the DRS (drag reduction system) to catch Hamilton on Lap 52 and pass him on the inside before zooming off to clinch his third win of the season and 13th of his career.
It was a close call, though, with Red Bull’s gamble on a two-stop strategy for Verstappen countered by a onestopper for Hamilton as Mercedes kept him out on the same tires.
With five of 53 laps left, Hamilton was only 3.5 seconds ahead.
Verstappen quickly ate into that lead, kept calm and then positioned himself perfectly to attack on a long straight in the way Hamilton has done countless times in his record 98 wins.
Verstappen, who won by 2.9 seconds, has 131 points to Hamilton’s 119 after seven races.
• Alex Palou sailed past Josef Newgarden with two laps remaining to win at Road America and reclaim the IndyCar points lead as Team Penske lost its third consecutive race because of a late caution in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Newgarden started from the pole and led 32 of the 55 laps until Ed Jones’ spin brought out the yellow with four to go. Newgarden got a good jump on the restart but Palou dipped left and sped around him for the lead.
Newgarden appeared to have a mechanical problem and plummeted from the lead to a 21st-place finish. He’s led 99 of 125 laps the last two IndyCar races but was denied a win a week ago in Detroit when Pato O’Ward ran him down following another late restart.
The driver who led the most laps has not won in IndyCar the last six races, and Team Penske is still seeking its first win of the year after nine races. It’s the deepest into a season Penske has gone without a victory since its 1999 winless season.
• Big-serving Matteo Berrettini dropped a set for the first time at the Queen’s Club tournament before going on to beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in the final in London.
Berrettini, 25, became the first newcomer to triumph at Queen’s since Boris Becker in 1985. Becker went on to win Wimbledon in the same year.