Kyle Larson Just Beats Christopher Bell for Las Vegas Win and Goes to the Championship Four

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag over Christopher Bell, driver of the #20 Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota, to win the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 15, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Kyle Larson punched his ticket to NASCAR’s version of the final four to determine a champion. As he did in his championship-winning season in 2021, Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series playoff Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.  He’s now in the Championship 4 race at Phoenix on Nov. 4 and can spend the next two weeks game-planning for the finale. Larson had to hold off a late-race charge from pole winner Christopher Bell in a photo finish.

Larson won by 0.082 seconds, won both stages and led 133 laps. He also won at LVMS in March 2021 on his way to claiming the title.

“Glad we don’t need to stress in the last two races," said Larson.

Larson’s fourth win of the season was the most important: Hendrick Motorsports could theoretically coast through the next two weeks and focus mostly on preparing for the finale at Phoenix Raceway. Joey Logano won Las Vegas last year and parlayed the two weeks of prep time into a championship-clinching win at Phoenix, however that is doubtful.

“If we just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to cruise for the next two weeks,' then you are not operating with the edge that I think you're going to need to win it in Phoenix,” said crew chief Cliff Daniels. “There's two more races to win, and the way I see this now is that we're in the position, we get to play those races to win.”

He needed a pretty remarkable save in the second stage when his Chevy wiggled and Larson somehow escaped with only denting the rear corner of the car into the wall. It was a save that Daniels believes only Larson could pull off.

“I just tried to take a deep breath and really forget about that as quickly as possible and get refocused,” Larson said.

Bell, who started on the pole in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was third after the pit stop. Passing seemed particularly difficult Sunday at Las Vegas, and Bell was sort of stuck following Larson for the rest of the race.

Bell made a run at Larson over the final handful of laps, closing the gap each time by the flagstand. As they closed in on the checkered flag, Bell gave it one furious push inside of Larson but couldn't beat him to the line.

“I don’t know what else I could have done,” a dejected Bell said. “I feel like that was my moment. That was my moment to make the final four and didn’t capture it. It would have been nice to lock in.” Larson praised Bell, his longtime sprint car rival, for racing him cleanly to the finish line.

Kyle Busch, a Las Vegas native, finished third in a Chevrolet. He was followed by Brad Keselowski in a Ford and Ross Chastain in a Chevrolet. All three were eliminated from the playoffs last Sunday at Charlotte.

The next five spots went to playoff drivers as Ryan Blaney was sixth in a Ford from Team Penske, and followed by Larson teammate William Byron, Tyler Reddick in a Toyota for 23XI Racing, JGR drivers Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Chris Buescher, in a Ford for RFK Racing, was the lowest-finishing playoff driver in 11th.

Unofficial Results: South Point 400, October 15, 2023 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 2, Kyle Larson (P), No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 267, 1, 1, 7, 133, 7, 60, Running
2) 1, Christopher Bell (P), No. 20 Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota, 267, 2, 3, 5, 61, , 52, Running
3) 6, Kyle Busch, No. 8 Morgan & Morgan Chevrolet, 267, 8, 7, , , , 41, Running
4) 21, Brad Keselowski, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford, 267, 3, 5, 5, 38, , 47, Running
5) 10, Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 267, , 2, , , , 41, Running
6) 12, Ryan Blaney (P), No. 12 Menards/Tarkett Ford, 267, 6, 8, , , , 39, Running
7) 3, William Byron (P), No. 24 Relay Payments Chevrolet, 267, 10, 6, 1, 1, , 36, Running
8) 8, Tyler Reddick (P), No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota, 267, 4, 9, , , , 38, Running
9) 4, Martin Truex Jr. (P), No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 267, 5, , 1, 9, , 34, Running
10) 15, Denny Hamlin (P), No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota, 267, 7, 4, 1, 23, , 38, Running
11) 5, Chris Buescher (P), No. 17 Travel Centers of America Ford, 267, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 9, Joey Logano, No. 22 Pennzoil Ford, 267, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 7, Bubba Wallace, No. 23 DoorDash Toyota, 267, , 10, , , , 25, Running
14) 13, Aric Almirola, No. 10 IHOP Ford, 267, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 36, Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 24, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford, 267, 9, , , , , 23, Running
17) 18, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stop Ford, 267, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 16, Austin Dillon, No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 28, Corey LaJoie, No. 7 NEGU Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 33, Harrison Burton, No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford, 267, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 22, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 20, Justin Haley, No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 19, Austin Cindric, No. 2 Autotrader Ford, 267, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 27, Ty Dillon, No. 77 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 30, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Smith's/Drumstick Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 32, Ryan Preece, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford, 267, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 29, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc. Ford, 266, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 23, Erik Jones, No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 26, JJ Yeley(i), No. 51 ConectUS Ford, 266, , , 1, 2, , 0, Running
30) 34, Brennan Poole(i), No. 15 MACC Door Systems Ford, 266, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 31, BJ McLeod(i), No. 78 BretBaier.com Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 35, Chase Elliott (P), No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 17, Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Code 3 Associates Ford, 263, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 11, Ty Gibbs #, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota, 259, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 14, Alex Bowman, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 144, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 25, Carson Hocevar(i), No. 42 Sunseeker Resorts Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs

Race L ength: 267 Laps, 400.5 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 57 Mins, 10 Secs.
Average Speed: 135.635 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.082 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 5, 20, 6, 45, 19, 12, 11, 8, 4, 24
Stage 2 Top 10: 5, 1, 20, 11, 6, 24, 8, 12, 45, 23

Comments: Kyle Larson won the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 23rd career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 9 and 99 (backup car).

Cautions: 7 for 36 laps;
Laps: 66-71 (No. 43 Incident on the Frontstretch [99]);
82-86 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]);
112-117 (No. 42 Incident in Turn 2 [16]);
146-149 (No. 48 Incident on the Frontstretch [78]);
167-171 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]);
211-215 (No. 14 Incident in Turn 2 [78]);
218-222 (No. 54 Incident in Turn 2 [14]).

Lead Changes: 20 among 7 drivers;
C. Bell (P) 1-2;
K. Larson (P) 3-28;
C. Bell (P) 29-39;
K. Larson (P) 40-68;
C. Bell (P) 69-72;
K. Larson (P) 73-82;
M. Truex Jr. (P) 83-91;
D. Hamlin (P) 92-114;
B. Keselowski 115-117;
K. Larson (P) 118;
B. Keselowski 119-145;
C. Bell (P) 146;
B. Keselowski 147-149;
W. Byron (P) 150;
B. Keselowski 151-154;
K. Larson (P) 155-168;
C. Bell (P) 169-211;
J. Yeley(i) 212-213;
K. Larson (P) 214-221;
B. Keselowski 222;
K. Larson (P) 223-267.

Current Points
Pos, Car, Driver, Pts, Pts Behind, Old Pos, G/L
1) 5, Kyle Larson (P), 4084, 0, 4, -3
2) 24, William Byron (P), 4077, -7, 1, 1
3) 11, Denny Hamlin (P), 4070, -14, 3, 0
4) 19, Martin Truex Jr. (P), 4070, -14, 2, 2
5) 20, Christopher Bell (P), 4068, -16, 6, -1
6) 45, Tyler Reddick (P), 4054, -30, 7, -1
7) 12, Ryan Blaney (P), 4053, -31, 8, -1
8) 17, Chris Buescher (P), 4047, -37, 5, 3
9) 6, Brad Keselowski, 2238, -1846, 9, 0
10) 1, Ross Chastain, 2213, -1871, 10, 0
11) 8, Kyle Busch, 2191, -1893, 12, -1
12) 23, Bubba Wallace, 2185, -1899, 11, 1
13) 22, Joey Logano, 2168, -1916, 13, 0
14) 4, Kevin Harvick, 2144, -1940, 14, 0
15) 34, Michael McDowell, 2130, -1954, 16, -1
16) 47, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2126, -1958, 15, 1
17) 9, Chase Elliott (P), 757, -3327, 17, 0
18) 99, Daniel Suarez, 706, -3378, 19, -1
19) 54, Ty Gibbs #, 693, -3391, 18, 1
20) 48, Alex Bowman, 658, -3426, 20, 0
21) 16, AJ Allmendinger, 646, -3438, 21, 0
22) 10, Aric Almirola, 588, -3496, 22, 0
23) 2, Austin Cindric, 571, -3513, 23, 0
24) 41, Ryan Preece, 566, -3518, 24, 0
25) 7, Corey LaJoie, 565, -3519, 26, -1
26) 31, Justin Haley, 564, -3520, 25, 1
27) 43, Erik Jones, 518, -3566, 27, 0
28) 38, Todd Gilliland, 505, -3579, 28, 0
29) 3, Austin Dillon, 474, -3610, 29, 0
30) 14, Chase Briscoe, 453, -3631, 30, 0
31) 21, Harrison Burton, 418, -3666, 31, 0
32) 77, Ty Dillon, 329, -3755, 32, 0
33) 51, JJ Yeley(i), 0, -4084, 45, 0
34) 42, Carson Hocevar(i), 0, -4084, 49, 0
35) 78, BJ McLeod(i), 0, -4084, 51, 0
36) 15, Brennan Poole(i), 0, -4084, 57, 0