3 days Ago By By JEFF BIRCHFIELD [email protected]
BRISTOL — Kyle Larson posted another dominating performance at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. Larson led 277 laps to run away with a win the SciAps 300 for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. It comes off the heels of Larson leading 462 of 500 laps in last September’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
“Just another really good car. Thanks to Adam Hall and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said. “I love this place, especially in an Xfinity car.
You can move around the track which makes it a lot of fun.” Driving the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Larson scored his second Xfinity win at Bristol and his 16th career victory in NASCAR's No.
2 series. It was his ninth top-10 finish in 10 BMS Xfinity races. Larson felt like a key was being able to get by lapped traffic quickly, which gave him an advantage over defending series champion Justin Allgaier, whom he passed for the lead on lap 191.
Still, he wasn’t able to get too far away, winning by two seconds at the end. “When I could get to traffic, I could pick people off,” Larson said. “Justin did a good job hanging with me and the pressure was on a little bit.
I had a car that could get to the lead, stay in the lead and get through traffic.” Carson Kvapil, in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, made a pass of his teammate Allgaier with less than two laps to go to take the runner-up spot.
Kvapil talked about his race car getting better the longer it ran. “Our No. 1 Chevrolet would take off at the end of a run,” Kvapil said.
“I used a lapped car as a pick where Justin had to slow down. I feel if I could’ve got around him a little sooner, I might’ve had something for Larson.” Allgaier received a $100,000 bonus as the highest finishing eligible driver in an Xfinity Dash 4 Cash program.
The driver of the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was still disappointed at losing second-place at the end. He also mentioned an earlier incident with the No.
45 driven by Mason Massey. “I got into it with a lapped car. If the race would’ve gone green, it would’ve probably helped us,” Allgaier said.
“I’m proud of the day. We got out front for a little bit, but we just needed a little more to keep up with Kyle. His pace in traffic was phenomenal.
” Sammy Smith in another JR Motorsports Chevrolet was fourth, followed by the previous week’s winner, Brandon Jones, in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Jesse Love in a Chevrolet was sixth, followed by Ryan Sieg in a Ford and Corey Heim in a Toyota.
Chevy driver Christian Eckes and Dean Thompson in a Toyota rounded out the top 10. EARLY STAGES Larson won the pole position with a lap of 15.194 seconds at 126.
287 mph. Connor Zilisch was on the outside pole at 15.272 seconds and 125.
642 mph. The race was red-flagged at lap 76 when Brennan Poole slammed into the side of Sheldon Creed’s Ford which had spun on the frontstretch. Both drivers were able to exit their cars and walked away without serious injury after the hard crash.
Larson had lapped all the way up to 14 cars at that point before coming into the pits. It gave the lead to Sam Mayer who was able to win Stage 1. But, Larson regained command and won by seven seconds over Allgaier in Stage 2.
The Xfinity Series, along with the Truck Series, makes a return to the famed Rockingham Speedway next weekend..
