Kyle Larson was left speechless after his third All-Star Race win in the past five years.
“Definitely it’s an old-fashioned smack,” Larson said.
Larson put on an out-of-the-ordinary run for the All-Star Race and raked in $1 million Sunday night in the Cup Series’ return to North Wilkesboro Highway after a 27-year absence.
He became the only fourth driver to win the All-Star Race at least three times. Jimmie Johnson have the most with four wins, while Larson, Jeff Gordon And Dale Earnhardt each has three. Larson is the first to win an All-Star Race in three different races, with his previous wins being in Charlotte in 2019 and Texas in 2021.
He celebrated his victory with a full lap around the 625-mile track as Hendrick Motorsports won the 11th All-Star Race.
Bubba Wallace runner-up in the 200 lap exhibition race without points, followed by Tyler Reddick, Chasing Briscoe And Chasing Elliott.
But only Larson collected the prize money in the win-eat-all event.
Wallace joked that he won “best of the rest.”
Wallace said: “Larson turned off the lights, so congratulations to him. “They’ve been on top all season, so finishing second behind them isn’t a bad thing. But coming second in the All-Star Race sucks because you go home empty-handed.”
Larson isn’t sure if he’d finish better in 15th after struggling in the heat races on Saturday night.
“I didn’t think there was enough there for [my crew] to make me better,” Larson said.
So when Larson was penalized for speeding in Round 24 and sent off to the end of the field, he thought it wasn’t his night.
But after a new set of tires, he drove his Chevrolet #5 to the front yard, passing 16 cars, including the pole guard. Daniel Suárez in Round 56. Larson went on to take the lead 11 seconds before a cautious incident occurred during the first race in Round 100.
“Once when I was picking up people, I thought, oh my god, is my car that good or is it because of the difference in tires?” Larsson said. “Then I was like, damn, our car was pretty good. So I tried to get through as many laps as I could.”
The caution in the competition did not slow Larson, who was never seriously challenged in the second half of the race.
Larson, who also won the Trucks Series race at North Wilkesboro on Saturday, said: “We’ve had a great car for a long time and I think it’s definitely going to be prudent. “I took the lead and I could see everyone’s cars driving like crazy in front of me.”
If fans come to see the wreck, they will leave disappointed.
Do not have.
And the only pass they saw to take the lead was Larson overtaking Suarez in one more short game in a season where NASCAR struggled with non-competitive races.
Reddick said: “It’s no secret that people in the industry, the fans, have been vocal about wanting better short-distance races, so I think what happens tonight will align with what That story happened recently.” “NASCAR is working on it, and we’ll all work together to try to make short-distance racing better.”
The North Wilkesboro Speedway’s patched tarmac is doing pretty well after a week of racing despite having not been paved in over three decades.
The track, barely active and overgrown with weeds, has been restored with the help of Speedway Motorsports CEO Marcus Smith and Hall of Fame racer Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 75th anniversary season of NASCAR.
Suárez and Chris Buescher started at the front row for the All-Star Race after winning lap 60 on Saturday night, when NASCAR first tested wet-weather tires on Cup Series cars.
Suarez soon prevailed, leading the first 55 laps of the race, while Buescher quickly lost his pace early, dropping to 10th place after just five laps when he was stuck on the outside.
