Larson’s 1st victory lands him in Chase
During the last couple laps of his first Sprint Cup victory, Kyle Larson was emotional.
“I think with two to go, I was starting to get choked up,” he said. “We worked really, really hard to get a win, and just hadn’t done it. Finally all the hard work by everybody, hundreds of people at our race shop, people who have got me through to the Cup Series, it was all paying off.”
Larson took the lead on a restart with nine laps remaining and held off Chase Elliott at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Sunday in a duel between two of NASCAR’s up-and-coming standouts. Elliott had a comfortable lead before a tire problem on Michael Annett’s car brought out the yellow flag. Larson had the better restart and went on to win by 1.48 seconds.
Brad Keselowski finished third.
Larson’s victory in his No. 42 Chevrolet snapped a 99-race losing streak for Chip Ganassi Racing dating to Jamie McMurray’s victory at Talladega in 2013. Larson secured a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with two races left in the regular season.
Elliott remains winless, but is in solid shape to make the Chase field on points.
It was the 99th career start for the 24-year-old Larson, who had 14 top-five finishes before Sunday but hadn’t won at the Cup level.
The 20-year-old Elliott is winless in 29 starts, but this was an impressive showing for him after eight consecutive races outside the top 10. Formula One: Although Nico Rosberg trimmed rival Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the title race after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, it was Hamilton who seemed the happier driver after turning a back-row start into a third-place finish.
Starting from the pole position, Rosberg avoided trouble in an incident-packed race featuring a chaotic first turn, wild overtaking, a heavy crash, safety cars, a red flag and heated language between Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen — the youngest and oldest in the race.
Rosberg moved nine points behind his Mercedes teammate, but Hamilton got a victory of sorts after picking his way through the field for a 97th podium finish after being relegated to the back row because of multiple grid penalties for extra engine part changes this weekend.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second. Rosberg’s win was his 20th at the F1 level.