Kyle Larson spent most of Sunday being pursued by the NASCAR Cup Series pack at Kansas Speedway, but he needed to become a predator to win the race.
Larson led 235 of 276 laps and swept the first two stages with ease, but faced late race battle with a hard-charging Chase Briscoe, who started the race from 23rd.
Briscoe got by Larson on lap 238 and looked ready to drive away, but Larson stayed within striking distance and was able to catch and pass him with seven laps left.
Briscoe threw everything he had to defend and then try to take the spot back, but he tapped the wall a couple of times in the process and was ultimately passed by Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin as Larson took the checkered flag.
” I really thought when Chase got by, he was just going to stretch out, but I got some lines going where I could settle in and try to take care of my tires. I don’t know. I think it’s just easier to be the hunter rather than the hunted,” Larson said on the front stretch after the race.
“I think a lot of the same, like, with me out front, I’m just defending and trying to guess on what lines are fast. When he got in front of me, I could see he started getting really loose.”
Larson also picked up the fastest lap to score the maximum 76 points and stretch his lead in The Chase standings to 26 points ahead of Denny Hamlin, while Christopher Bell sits 50 back in third.
Last week’s winner Joey Logano had a rough night in the pits and on the track and came home 20th, which slipped him from 16 points back in the Chase standings in third to 67 points down in fourth, followed by Ryan Blaney (-91) and Ty Gibbs (-94).
