Kyle Larson won NASCAR’s longest race in dominant fashion on Sunday night, giving team owner Rick Hendrick a record 269th victory, the most in NASCAR Cup Series history.
Larson won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the eighth time in his career and the second time this season, securing a playoff spot for the No. 5 Chevrolet. Larson had a 10.051-second advantage over runner-up and teammate Chase Elliott as he crossed the finish line after 400 laps.
Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2 for the third time in a row. Only third-place finisher Kyle Busch managed to break up the HMS party, with William Byron and Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Larson led 327 of the 400 laps, with his only real challenges coming from Elliott and Byron, who led 22 and 19 laps, respectively.
“It feels great to be that guy who helped Mr. H break that record finally,” Larson said of the victory that broke a tie with Petty Enterprises for most wins in the series.
Larson has agreed to join Hendrick for the 2021 season. Hendrick’s car had the same number as the Chevrolet Geoff Bodine drove to victory at Martinsville Speedway on April 29, 1984, giving Hendrick’s fledgling — and struggling — organization the first of its 269 victories.
“It‘s been better than I ever could have imagined,” Larson said of his first 15 races with HMS. “For us to lead as many laps as we‘ve got this year (a series-best 1,105), to contend for as many wins as we have and now to get our second win in a crown-jewel event, too, it feels great.
“I‘m just very lucky that Mr. H was able to put a deal (together) for me. It‘s just awesome. I‘m living a dream, for sure.”
NASCAR chairman and CEO Jim France was one of the first to congratulate Hendrick.
“I am proud to congratulate Rick Hendrick and all of Hendrick Motorsports on breaking the all-time wins record for a NASCAR Cup Series race team, long held by the legendary Petty Enterprises team,” France said in a statement issued at the conclusion of the race. “With nearly 40 years of excellence, Hendrick Motorsports has set the gold standard for race team success. Rick Hendrick has already cemented his legacy as a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and now adds another incredible accomplishment to an exemplary NASCAR career.”
Larson started from the pole and swept the first three stages, but not without Elliott and Byron putting up a fight.
On Lap 231, Byron passed Larson for the lead in the green-flag run following the second stage break. Larson, on the other hand, came in for service one lap ahead of Byron and was nearly one second faster on and off pit road than his teammate during the subsequent exchange of pit stops.
Larson built a lead of more than 2.5 seconds but spent more than 15 circuits trying to lap the No. 43 Chevrolet of Erik Jones, as Byron closed to his bumper.
“Make him work for it,” Jones‘ spotter, Rick Carelli, radioed to his driver as he fought to stay on the lead lap, and Jones certainly followed those instructions.
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Larson eventually passed the No. 43 Camaro and began to draw away from Byron until Ryan Newman smashed into the outside wall on Lap 296 to bring out the race’s fourth and final caution. Larson was the winner of the stage, which concluded in yellow.
Jones, coincidentally, pitted for fresh tires on the last lap to the finish, returned to the track ahead of Larson, and helped Larson increase his advantage.
“I just towed with him for a while and stretched my lead out,” said Larson, who for the second time in his career followed three straight runner-up finishes with a pole and a victory.
Denny Hamlin, Chris Buescher, Tyler Reddick, and Kevin Harvick finished sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Hamlin maintained his 76-point series lead over Larson and Byron, who are tied for second place in the standings.
The NASCAR Cup Series’ next race is Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 (4 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM) at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
The uniforms of NASCAR racing drivers are currently available at the following websites for a reasonable price:
