Larson caps wild weekend with victory
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kyle Larson slipped between cars on an overtime restart, capping his wild weekend with a victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Team owner Chip Ganassi allowed Larson to go to Iowa to compete in the Knoxville Nationals on Saturday. He finished second at that sprint-car event before returning to Michigan and earning his third Cup victory of the season.
“This win feels amazing to steal one in a way,” Larson said. “My other three wins, I felt like we had the first- or second-best car, but today at times, I didn’t think we were a top-10 car. But to get the win that way is awesome.”
Martin Truex Jr. led, about a second ahead of teammate Erik Jones, before a late caution came out because of a spin by Michael McDowell, forcing overtime.
A red flag for oil on the track only added to the drama, and when the race restarted for the final time, Larson — who hadn’t led at all to that point — drove to the right of Jones and passed to the inside of Truex.
“We got beat fair and square,” said Truex, the series points leader. “The double-file restarts are tricky, and sometimes you do them right, sometimes you screw them up, and unfortunately, I screwed the one up that mattered the most today.” Truex and Jones were second and third. Larson won by 0.31 of a second in his No. 42 Chevrolet. Brad Keselowski and Truex won the first two stages. Motorcycles: Cameron Beaubier won both Saturday and Sunday in Moto America’s return to Sonoma Raceway, sweeping both Motul Superbike races . ... Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso held off a late challenge by defending Moto GP champion Marc Marquez to win the Austrian GP in Spielberg.