Kyle Larson Surprises Himself with Martinsville Cup Win

Jared C. Tilton - Getty Images

MARTINSVILKLE, VA – RIS – Kyle Larson  finally  got track position in the final stage of the race to claim victory on Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.  The final 30 laps were very friendly to Larson after the new short track package NASCAR enacted made it hard to pass. He got that welcomed track position with a two tire stop and it seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.

Larson restarted in the top five thanks to the pit stop after J.J. Yeley wrecked with 57 laps to go and passed Joey Logano with 30 laps remaining. Logano had stayed out on old tires to gain track position and was relatively powerless to keep Larson behind him. Larson then incredibly drove away from Logano and everyone else over the final 30 laps of the race. After no one had grabbed a sizable lead over the course of the 400-lap race, Larson extended his lead to over three seconds over Logano and the rest of the field — even the drivers who had pitted for four tires during the final caution.

It was Larson’s 21st career Cup win, but it was his first at Martinsville. Larson was as surprised as anyone, since he has always had trouble at the half mile track. "I don't even know what to say, I never thought I'd win here," Larson said after the race.

Logano held on to finish second while Martin Truex Jr. drove his way to third in the final laps. Denny Hamlin finished fourth and Chase Briscoe was fifth, but it was another Stewart Haas driver that made noise in the beginning of the race.

Ryan Preece led the first 135 laps of the race from the pole but never got back to the front of the field after he sped on pit road during the race’s second caution flag. The penalty dropped Preece from first to the tail end of the lead lap and it took him a ton of laps to even work his way back into the top 20. Preece ended up finishing 15th and five spots ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick. He finished 15th.

“I sped off pit road, I guess ,Preece said. “That ultimately cost us the track position, Preece said. We had a really fast race car, so once we got in the back it was so hard to do anything, so that’s on me. I’ll take blame for that. I was trying to beat them out and ultimately got snapped speeding.”

Harvick also had a fast car on Sunday but his misfortune came late in the race. Harvick was forced to pit because of a loose wheel and broken lug nut after his put stop during the final caution flag. While the wheel on his car stayed connected to the hub, Harvick had to pit for a new tire and lost any chance at a win or a top-five finish. 

Many drivers kept blaming the rules package for the lack of passing.  The main objective was to get up front and you can stay there.  That seemed to be the trick for Preece, Logano, and others.

Logano was quite vocal on the subject.

“It’s really challenging to pass still. It’s kind of interesting how some tracks it’s definitely improved it and at some tracks it hasn’t. Richmond was a much better race. Here at Martinsville, I’d say we probably have to go back to the drawing board to try and find something else to help racing a little bit more, but part of it, too, you’ve got understand is that all of the cars run the same speed. They gave us a box with cars that are all identical. Well, we’re all gonna end up running that same speed for the most part. When all the cars are within a tenth of each other, you can’t pass. There’s got to be more speed differential through the field,” Logano said.

From short track to superspeedway next week when the drivers head to Talladega Superspeedway, the 2.66-mile track in Alabama.

John Davison

6:53 PM (44 minutes ago)       to me        

Unofficial Results: NOCO 400, April 16, 2023, Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - 0.526 - Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps , St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 19, Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 400, 9, 10, 1, 30, 5, 43, Running
2) 15, Joey Logano, No. 22 Verizon 5G Ford, 400, , , 1, 25, , 35, Running
3) 5, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 400, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 11, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, 400, 8, 3, 1, 36, , 44, Running
5) 4, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford, 400, 5, 2, 2, 109, , 47, Running
6) 3, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 400, 2, 9, , , , 42, Running
7) 31, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford, 400, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 16, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Kroger/Tree Top Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 9, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 McDonald's Toyota, 400, 7, , , , , 32, Running
10) 24, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 23, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 18, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 34, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Unishippers Chevrolet, 400, , 6, 1, 31, , 29, Running
14) 10, Chris Buescher, No. 17 Nexletol Ford, 400, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 1, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 400, 1, , 1, 135, 1, 32, Running
16) 22, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Shingrix Toyota, 400, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 2, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 400, 4, 8, 1, 7, , 30, Running
18) 12, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 400, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Long John Silver's Ford, 400, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 7, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Realtree/Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 400, 6, 1, 2, 20, 1, 32, Running
21) 17, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Mark III Employee Benefits Chevrolet, 400, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 6, Tyler Reddick, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota, 400, 3, 4, , , , 30, Running
23) 8, William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 400, 10, , , , , 15, Running
24) 21, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 Fastenal Ford, 400, , 5, 1, 7, , 19, Running
25) 13, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford, 399, , 7, , , , 16, Running
26) 27, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 NEGU Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 14, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet, 399, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 26, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 32, Harrison Burton, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford, 398, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 29, Noah Gragson #, No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 28, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 398, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 35, Ty Dillon, No. 77 NationsGuard Chevrolet, 397, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 25, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Menards/Libman Ford, 397, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 33, Zane Smith(i), No. 51 Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford, 395, , , , , , 0, Running
35) 30, Anthony Alfredo(i), No. 78 Andy's Frozen Custard Chevrolet, 390, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 36, JJ Yeley(i), No. 15 Isaacson Concrete & Excavating Ford, 337, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie 

Race Length: 400 Laps, 210.4 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 50 Mins, 35 Secs.
Average Speed: 74.005 MPH
Margin of Victory: 4.142 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 41, 10, 45, 99, 14, 4, 23, 11, 5, 24
Stage 2 Top 10: 4, 14, 11, 45, 6, 1, 38, 99, 10, 5

Comments: Kyle Larson won the 74th running of the NOCO 400 at Martinsville Speedway, his 21st victory in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 22 (unapproved adjustments).

Cautions: 5 for 50 laps;
Laps: 82-91 (Stage 1 Conclusion [22]);
134-142 (No. 21 Spin Turn 2 [51]);
182-192 (Stage 2 Conclusion [21]);
304-312 (Debris Frontstretch [12]);
344-354 (No. 15 Incident Turn 3 [8]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 9 drivers;
R. Preece 1-135;
R. Chastain 136-166;
K. Harvick 167-185;
C. Briscoe 186-256;
D. Hamlin 257-292;
B. Keselowski 293-299;
D. Suarez 300-306;
C. Briscoe 307-344;
K. Harvick 345;
J. Logano 346-370;
K. Larson 371-400.