Larson finally tames Martinsville track

Kyle Larson never thought he would tame the half-mile, paperclip-shaped track at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

And then came Sunday. Larson passed Joey Logano with 29 laps to go and went on to win his second Cup Series race of the season on a day when NASCAR welcomed back Chase Elliott.

It was the 21st career Cup Series win for Larson and 15th in the last three seasons for the 2021 Cup champion.

Larson had struggled mightily at Martinsville in the past. In his previous 17 races there, he had three top-five finishes and never finished better than third.

“I never, ever would have thought I would have won here,” Larson said. “This place has been so tough on me and just does not suit my driving style at all . ... I just can’t believe it.”

Because of his past at the track, Larson joked that he doesn’t have room picked out for where to keep the 6foot tall grandfather clock awarded to the winner.

Logano, who was forced to begin the race in the back of the field after his crew found a leak in his water tank before the start, finished second, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.

Logano was thrilled with his result, knowing he didn’t have the car to hold off Larson late in the race on a restart.

“We got lapped twice and at one point I would have been happy to finish on the lead lap,” Logano said.

Elliott, voted NASCAR’s most popular driver the last five years, finished 10th in his first race since breaking his leg in a snowboarding accident that forced him to miss six weeks. He ran in the mid-20s for most of the race before closing strong.

Brown, Hagan Glenn take titles

Antron Brown, Matt Hagan and Dallas Glenn won their respective classes at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brown edged points leader Steve Torrence in top fuel with an elapsed time of 3.760 to Torrence’s 3.774.

Hagan, the points leader in funny car, held off Tim Wilkerson with his elapsed time of 3.943 in the funny car final. Glenn, the pro stock points leader, edged Troy Coughlin Jr. in the final.