Larson scores Las Vegas win

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson overcame strong wind and two late restarts Saturday to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Larson earned his ninth career Xfinity victory and his first in Las Vegas, where he finished second in the Xfinity and Cup series races last year.

The 25-year-old Californian took an early lead in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and avoided any late-race fuel trouble when Ryan Reed blew a tire with 16 laps to go.

Christopher Bell finished second in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Justin Allgaier was third. Ryan Blaney, the pole-sitter for Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup series race, came in fourth.

Larson is the 10th consecutive different winner in the Xfinity race in Las Vegas, and the Cup star was clearly the class of the field. He capably navigated wind gusts topping 25 mph on the north end of the Las Vegas Strip to earn his fifth consecutive top-three finish in Xfinity races.

“This race car is so fast,” he said. “It was really fast last year, but you never really know. This was my first time with this body, and it performed well.”

Yet Larson was uncertain whether his fuel would last until the finish, but the caution for Reed allowed Larson to pit. Larson quickly reclaimed the top spot despite falling behind Tyler Reddick out of the pits.