Kyle Larson held Martin Truex Jr. in frantic final 20 laps to crown a dominant NASCAR Cup Series season, won his first Cup championship and became the first driver to win 10 in one season since Jimmie Johnson in 2007.
Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion, finished second, 0.398 seconds behind.
Denny Hamlin, whose 46 non-championship wins are second only to Junior Johnson, finished third, followed by last year’s champion Chase Elliott.
“I can’t believe it. I wouldn’t have thought I’d drive a Cup car a year and a half ago,” said Larson, who was fired from Chip Ganassi Racing and banned from NASCAR in April 2020 after watching an iRacing livestream had used a racial slur. Winning a championship is insane.… There were so many points in this race that I didn’t think we were going to win and without my pit crew at the last stop we wouldn’t be here. I am simply blessed to be part of this group. ”
“I had a lot of thoughts,” he said of his thoughts as he crossed the finish line. “A lot of thoughts on this last one, really since shortly before the intros, it all hit me and tears ran down my face as I just drove the truck around. The crowd cheered loudly and it was just a different atmosphere than I was ever a part of. I’m glad we made it. ”
Elliott and Larson dominated the second leg – Hamlin’s first two pit stops were slow, but his No. 11 crew helped him gain three places after Chase Briscoe issued a warning on lap 155. Over two stages, Elliott led 79 laps, Truex led 39, Larson led 34, and Hamlin had none. Championship four started the final stage 1-2-3-4 (Kyle Larson, Elliott, Truex and Hamlin).
And then the dynamic changed. Truex had just pitted 65 to go when Anthony Alfredo’s right front tire burst and knocked him into the wall at a nasty angle. Truex and Ryan Blaney were in the pit lane when the warning came out, so they took the lead. Hamlin won the race off the pit lane ahead of Elliott, Logano and Larson. Truex and Hamlin lined up in the front row for the restart.
The caution came with 31 remaining after debris fell from David Starr’s car and everyone pitted. Kyle Larson won the race off the pit lane, taking three places. He prevailed ahead of Hamlin, Truex and Elliott, and when the green flag waved, Larson jumped 0.291 seconds ahead of Truex and took off.
Larson has had the best careers in every single traditional statistical category this season – wins (10), top five (19), top 10 (25), laps in the lead (2,474) and average start (6.4, series best).
Larson was reinstated in October after meeting NASCAR’s required reinstatement criteria, and Hendrick Motorsports hired him nine days later for 2021.
(Photo: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
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