Kyle Larson Punches his Ticket to the Championship Four at Texas
FORT WORTH, TX – RIS – Kyle Larson became the first driver to be part of the NASCAR Cup final four at Phoenix Speedway. Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway found Larson dominating the race even though he had plenty of drivers who were very competitive chasing him. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 1 1/2-mile track and got his eighth win this season, staying in front through seven restarts in the final stage. Three of those restarts came after incidents involving other playoff contenders in the closing laps.This was the first chance for anyone to guarantee a shot at racing for the Cup title in Phoenix on Nov. 7.
Already with a significant points lead, and coming off a win on the road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway a week earlier to close out the second elimination round, Larson left no doubt about the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet being part of the championship four.
It all came down to a two lap overtime where several drivers hoped to have the ability to pass Larson and guarantee that coveted place in three weeks. Despite their best efforts, Larson maintained his lead and crossed under the checkers.
Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch are above the cutline going to Kansas, where Busch won earlier this year. Defending Cup champion Chase Elliott is fifth, ahead of Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano.
Three restarts in the final 34 laps came because of incidents involving Logano, Hamlin and Truex Jr.
Hamlin was on the outside of a three-wide situation with 20 laps remaining when Blaney made contact with the No. 11 Toyota. The tire rub eventually blew, and sent Hamlin into a spin, though he was able to get to pit road and stay on the lead lap. Hamlin had more contact later that damaged his splitter.
Truex, the Joe Gibbs Racing teammate of Hamlin, was later done after contact with Daniel Suarez that sent him hard into the wall.
Logano, who was already eighth in points, was the first of the playoff drivers out at Texas, when his engine blew with 34 laps to go.
“Now we know what we have to do the next two weeks ... we’ve got to go find a way to win,” Logano said.
Larson’s first appearance in NASCAR’s championship four comes in the same season that Rick Hendrick gave him an opportunity to get back into the Cup Series. He also won at Texas in the $1 million, non-points All-Star race in June.
Bubba Wallace was in the middle while three-wide going onto the backstretch when he got loose and went sideways, triggering a big crash. NASCAR listed 12 cars being involved, not including Busch, on a the restart from the competition caution. The 12 cars were among the most ever involved in a single incident at Texas, which hosted its 41st Cup race since the 1997 debut with a 13-car crash at the start of the race.
The NASCAR Cup drivers and cars head to Kansas next week to continue the march to Phoenix and the crowning of a 2021 champion.
Unofficial Results: 17th Annual Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500, October 17, 2021, Texas Motor Speedway: 1.5 - Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 334, 3, 1, 3, 256, 6, 58, Running
2) 12, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 334, 5, 2, 3, 55, , 50, Running
3) 11, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 334, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 7, Brad Keselowski (P), No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 334, 10, 5, , , , 40, Running
5) 24, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 334, , 4, , , , 39, Running
6) 4, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford, 334, 2, 3, , , , 48, Running
7) 6, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 334, 8, , , , , 33, Running
8) 3, Kyle Busch (P), No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 334, 1, 10, 1, 20, 1, 40, Running
9) 9, Tyler Reddick, No. 8 CC Ready Mix Chevrolet, 334, 9, 9, , , , 32, Running
10) 19, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, 334, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 2, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 Craftsman Toyota, 334, 7, 7, 1, 2, , 34, Running
12) 21, Erik Jones, No. 43 Medallion Bank Chevrolet, 334, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 13, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 21 Menards/Atlas/Mohawk Ford, 334, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 15, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off Road Chevrolet, 334, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 26, Chase Briscoe #, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, 334, 6, 8, , , , 30, Running
16) 17, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 332, 4, 6, , , , 33, Running
17) 16, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 332, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 22, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield/Walk-On's Ford, 331, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Cole Custer, No. 41 Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford, 330, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 29, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 329, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 10, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 327, , , , , , 16, Accident
22) 35, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 NASCAR 21 Ignition Ford, 324, , , , , , 0, Running
23) 38, * David Starr(i), No. 66 Conectus/Kyocera Ford, 323, , , , , , 0, Running
24) 36, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 15 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet, 321, , , , , , 0, Running
25) 8, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 320, , , 1, 1, , 12, Accident
26) 33, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 52 Junction Fuels Ford, 319, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 39, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 13 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 317, , , , , , 0, Running
28) 25, Ross Chastain, No. 42 Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet, 311, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 28, Anthony Alfredo #, No. 38 Speedy Cash Ford, 299, , , , , , 8, Accident
30) 5, Joey Logano (P), No. 22 AAA Insurance Ford, 298, , , , , , 7, Engine
31) 30, Quin Houff, No. 00 8 Ball Chocolate Whiskey Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 6, Suspension
32) 18, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 Columbia Toyota, 38, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 14, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 36, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 27, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Healthy Choice Chevrolet, 31, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 31, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Violet Defense Ford, 31, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 23, * Ryan Preece, No. 37 Little Hug Chevrolet, 30, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 32, Justin Haley(i), No. 77 Alloy/Shavelogic Chevrolet, 30, , , , , , 0, Accident
38) 34, Cody Ware(i), No. 51 Nurtec ODT Chevrolet, 30, , , , , , 0, Accident
39) 37, Joey Gase(i), No. 53 Explore Branson Chevrolet, 29, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 42 Mins, 54 Secs.
Length: 334 Laps, 501. Miles
Average Speed: 134.859 MPH
Margin of Victory: .459 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 18, 12, 5, 1, 24, 14, 11, 9, 8, 2
Stage 2 Top 10: 5, 24, 12, 4, 2, 1, 11, 14, 8, 18
Comments: Kyle Larson won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 14th NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: No. 7, No. 9, No. 14, No. 15, No. 66 (multiple inspection failures), No. 48, No. 77 (unapproved adjustments).
Caution Flags: 11 for 55 laps;
Laps: 27-30 (Competition Caution [00]);
32-39 (No. 42, 47, 48, 37, 23, 53, 51, 77, 6, 10, 34, 41 Incident Backstretch [None]);
107-112 (Stage 1 Conclusion [19]);
166-170 (Debris on Backstretch [99]);
212-216 (Stage 2 Conclusion [17]);
276-280 (Debris on Backstretch [21]);
300-304 (Fluid on Track [20]);
306-309 (No. 38 Incident Turn 2 [Red: 11:09] [43]);
315-318 (No. 11 Spin Backstretch [14]);
321-325 (No. 19, 99 Incident Turn 3 [3]);
329-332 (No. 17, 11, 14 Incident Backstretch [3]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers;
K. Larson (P) 1-27;
W. Byron 28-39;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 40;
W. Byron 41-82;
K. Larson (P) 83-93;
W. Byron 94;
D. Hamlin (P) 95-96;
K. Busch (P) 97-116;
K. Larson (P) 117-334.
Busch Pole Award: Kyle Larson, No. 5 0 mph
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Chase Briscoe, No. 14
Unofficial Points:
Pos) Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Kyle Larson (P) 5 33 0 4123 0 0 8 16 65
2) Ryan Blaney (P) 12 33 2 4072 -51 51 3 4 24
3) Denny Hamlin (P) 11 33 -1 4064 -59 8 2 10 30
4) Kyle Busch (P) 18 33 1 4063 -60 1 2 7 23
5) Chase Elliott (P) 9 33 1 4055 -68 8 2 4 22
6) Brad Keselowski (P) 2 33 2 4048 -75 7 1 2 8
7) Martin Truex Jr. (P) 19 33 -4 4041 -82 7 4 5 29
8) Joey Logano (P) 22 33 -1 4020 -103 21 1 5 13
9) Kevin Harvick 4 33 0 2248 -1875 1772 0 0 2
10) Christopher Bell 20 33 0 2198 -1925 50 1 0 5
11) Kurt Busch 1 33 0 2196 -1927 2 1 3 8
12) Tyler Reddick 8 33 0 2192 -1931 4 0 3 3
13) William Byron 24 33 0 2183 -1940 9 1 3 14
14) Aric Almirola 10 33 1 2136 -1987 47 1 0 5
15) Alex Bowman 48 33 -1 2135 -1988 1 3 0 15
16) Michael McDowell 34 33 0 2107 -2016 28 1 0 5
17) Austin Dillon 3 33 0 858 -3265 1249 0 0 0
18) Matt DiBenedetto 21 33 1 713 -3410 145 0 1 0
19) Chris Buescher 17 33 -1 706 -3417 7 0 2 1
20) Ross Chastain 42 33 0 668 -3455 38 0 0 0
21) Bubba Wallace 23 33 0 661 -3462 7 1 2 6
22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr) 47 33 0 634 -3489 27 0 0 0
23) Chase Briscoe # 14 33 0 620 -3503 14 0 0 0
24) Erik Jones 43 33 0 589 -3534 31 0 0 0
25) Daniel Suarez 99 33 0 587 -3536 2 0 0 0
Ron Fleshman with John Davison
RIS NASCAR Editor. Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.