Kyle Larson Wins Darlington NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Race
Kyle Larson is locked in.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver closed out a win at the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night in dominant fashion, leading the final 55 laps to punch his ticket to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs round of 12.
It was Larson’s first Cup Series win on The Lady in Black.
Tyler Reddick pressured Larson after a restart that followed a crash involving playoff drivers Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, Denny Hamlin and Darlington pole-sitter Christopher Bell, but the 23XI driver couldn’t close the gap as Chris Buescher and William Byron made late runs to finish not far behind in third and fourth.
Larson ran a high line in the closing laps dangerously close to the wall, which he tapped a few times.
“This has been one of my favorite tracks my whole career, been really really fast here my whole career, just usually hit the wall, and finally we have the Next Gen car that’s tough enough to allow me to hit the wall,” Larson said during his post-race interview on USA.
“I was able to make some mistakes and get a win. So, adding this trophy to the collection is going to be amazing.”
The Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway for the next round of the playoffs on September 10, a race won last year by playoff contender Bubba Wallace.
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