Sunday, March 7th, 2021
Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
Kyle Larson left little to chance Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway leading a race best 103 laps and pulling away to a convincing 3.156-second win over former NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski to win the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube - his first victory in two years.
Larson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif. became the quickest winner in Hendrick Motorsports long and esteemed history, taking the checkered flag in only his fourth start in the team's famous No. 5 Chevrolet.
It was a hard-earned and highly-emotional win for Larson, who missed most of last season serving a suspension for using racially-insensitive language. The popular young Californian was reinstated by NASCAR in the offseason after following a course of rehabilitation and sensitivity training. He came into the season with the Hendrick Motorsports opportunity, grateful and ready to redeem himself.
Larson was exuberant speaking to the team on the radio while driving under the checkered flag as the race winner. He did celebratory burnouts on the backstretch and then again under the flag-stand on the frontstretch telling his Hendrick Motorsports team on the car radio, "What a car, what an opportunity. Thank you, guys."
Just as Larson was finishing his live television interview, Keselowski ran across the infield grass to shake Larson's hand and congratulate him on a powerful race performance.
"I'm just really happy for him, I know he's been through a lot in the last year and he's a good kid who I've known for a little while and has a good family and I'm just happy to see him bounce back," the Team Penske driver Brad Keselowski said.
"He was really fast - had a lot of speed in all the lanes which was really impressive, usually you have to make a compromise, but they were really good. If Kyle Larson wasn't here, we would have had a dominant day," Keselowski added with a smile.
It was a highly competitive race from green to checkered flag with 27 lead changes among 12 different drivers. Five drivers led at least 20 laps. Keselowski won Stage 1 and Larson won Stage 2 - the first stage victories for both drivers this season.
In all, Larson led a race best six times, working his Chevrolet back to the front no matter the challenge, ultimately pacing the field for the last 30 laps en route to his seventh career win. It is his first on a 1.5-mile track after nine previous runner-up finishes on mile-and-a-half venues.
"It was such an awesome car," Larson said. "Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody did a great job preparing this piece. It was so much fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted to. I know we had a really good car once we would kind of get single-filed out; but just drafting early in the run was tough.
"But thank you so much Mr. Hendrick, Jeff Gordon and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I've been gifted. Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet everybody at the engine shop. Thank you so much for all the hard work. This is definitely special."
Larson and Keselowski managed to use the final portion of the race to get around the full-on Joe Gibbs Racing team, whose drivers combined to lead 53 laps on the afternoon. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch - a Las Vegas native - and Denny Hamlin finished third and fourth. Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney was fifth, his first top 10 of the season.
Two more Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas, driven by Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell were sixth and seventh, followed by last week's winner, Hendrick Motorsport's William Byron. Team Penske driver Joey Logano and Richard Petty Motorsport's driver Erik Jones rounded out the top 10.
Larson's teammate Chase Elliott - the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion - finished 13th after overcoming several problems. His team had a jack issue in the pits and contact with another car made for multiple long pit stops.
"We were good on the short run, just didn't quite have enough long run speed," said Denny Hamlin, who led 47 laps on the day. "Certainly I thought it was a good start, we'll just gather our data and try to figure out what we need to do to be better when we come back here and it really counts."
Hamlin and Keselowski, who are still looking for their first wins of the 2021 season sit atop the championship points standings. Hamlin leads by 38 points over Keselowski and Larson is third.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Smithfield Power Bites | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Bugarewicz |
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Discount Tire | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | FedEx Ground | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Pennzoil | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | Mobil 1 | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers |
6 | 1 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, NV | Aug 4, 1978 | 46 | Chevrolet | Monster Energy | Chip Ganassi Racing | Matt McCall |
7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | Ethel M Chocolates | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
8 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Bass Pro Shops | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | Love's Travel Stops | Front Row Motorsports | Drew Blickensderfer |
10 | 6 | Ryan Newman | South Bend, IN | Dec 8, 1977 | 46 | Ford | Wyndham Rewards | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Bet MGM | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | Kroger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
13 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | LasVegas.net | MBM Motorsports | Clinton Cram |
14 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
15 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Menards / Pennzoil | Team Penske | Todd Gordon |
17 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Built Bar | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
18 | 15 | Joey Gase | Cedar Rapids, IA | Feb 8, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | NV Donor Network | Rick Ware Racing | Pat Tryson |
19 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | NAPA Auto Parts | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
20 | 21 | Matt DiBenedetto | Grass Valley, CA | Jul 27, 1991 | 33 | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane | Wood Brothers Racing | Greg Erwin |
21 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Fastenal | RFK Racing | Luke Lambert |
22 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Medallion Bank | Richard Petty Motorsports | Jerry Baxter |
23 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | Surface Sunscreen | Live Fast Motorsports | Frank Kerr |
24 | 37 | Ryan Preece | Berlin, CT | Oct 25, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Natural Light Naturdays | JTG Daugherty Racing | Trent Owens |
25 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Camping World | Trackhouse Racing | Travis Mack |
26 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Mike Hillman Sr |
27 | 42 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | Clover | Chip Ganassi Racing | Phil Surgen |
28 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | Columbia Sportwear | 23XI Racing | Mike Wheeler |
29 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | Liberty University | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | HaasTooling.com | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
31 | 53 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Trophy Tractor / Texas Strong | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
32 | 52 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Ford | dontbebroke.com | Rick Ware Racing | Peter Sospenzo |
33 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | Quartz Hill Records | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
34 | 00 | Quin Houff | Weyers Cave, VA | Sep 15, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | 8 Ball Chocolate Whiskey | StarCom Racing | George Church |
35 | 77 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | Nations Guard | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
36 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | Craftsman | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
37 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | Ford Performance Racing School | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
38 | 38 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Speedy Cash | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour |