NASCAR News: Larson out duels Truex Jr. to win at Sonoma

Kyle Larson powered to victory in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race, avoiding the early chaos that derailed the days of others and riding fresher tires down the stretch to notch a home-track win at Sonoma Raceway.

Elk Grove, California, native Larson closed out a visit to his home track of Sonoma Raceway with a trip to lane in his No. 5 Valvoline Camaro ZL1 – the Team Chevy driver’s second career NASCAR Cup Series victory at the 1.99-mile Northern California circuit.

Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led 19 of the 110 laps in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, and he claimed his second win on the 1.99-mile road course by 4.258 seconds. His third win of the season also marked the 26th of his Cup Series career.

Michael McDowell drove home as the runner-up in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. Chris Buescher took third, with Chase Elliott fourth and Ross Chastain fifth.

Larson’s tires were 13 laps fresher in the final green-flag stretch, and he slipped by Martin Truex Jr. and Buescher on Lap 102 to take the lead for the last time. Truex, who recovered from an early spin, was in position to finish as the runner-up, but his No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sputtered out of fuel within sight of the checkered flag.

Six caution periods for incidents slowed the first half of the race, with multiple spins and crashes thinning the field of contenders. Tyler Reddick — who led a race-best 35 laps — and Buescher divided the stage wins, but the two drivers were on divergent pit-stop strategies that altered their outcomes in the relatively calmer second half.

Denny Hamlin entered the race as the Cup Series points leader, but he was the first retiree after his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota suffered engine failure as he completed Lap 2. He ended up last in the 38-car field, snapping his streak of five consecutive top-five finishes.

His JGR teammate Ty Gibbs was out just 14 laps later after his No. 54 Toyota crunched the Turn 11 wall, damaging his right front and sending him into the Turn 1 barrier.

The Cup Series’ next race is the Iowa Corn 350, scheduled next Sunday

Race Results

POS	CAR	DRIVER	MANUF	BEHIND	LAPS
1	5	Kyle Larson		—	108
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.		1.218	108
3	34	Michael McDowell		3.695	108
4	17	Chris Buescher		5.126	108
5	8	Kyle Busch		8.292	108
6	1	Ross Chastain		8.405	108
7	9	Chase Elliott		10.546	108
8	16	AJ Allmendinger(i)		12.541	108
9	12	Ryan Blaney		17.875	108
10	45	Tyler Reddick		19.321	108
11	20	Christopher Bell		21.160	108
12	38	Todd Gilliland		22.348	108
13	7	Corey LaJoie		26.576	108
14	6	Brad Keselowski		33.696	108
15	99	Daniel Suarez		36.281	108
16	48	Alex Bowman		39.333	108
17	71	Zane Smith #		39.978	108
18	77	Carson Hocevar #		42.539	108
19	41	Ryan Preece		44.490	108
20	43	Erik Jones		47.146	108
21	23	Bubba Wallace		50.892	107
22	22	Joey Logano		50.114	107
23	2	Austin Cindric		51.385	107
24	15	Kaz Grala #		53.343	107
25	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		57.593	107
26	21	Harrison Burton		59.539	107
27	10	Noah Gragson		60.591	107
28	31	Daniel Hemric		-1	107
29	42	John Hunter Nemechek		-1	107
30	24	William Byron		-2	106
31	33	* Will Brown		-4	104
32	4	Josh Berry #		-13	95
33	51	Justin Haley		-20	88
34	14	Chase Briscoe		-35	73
35	60	* Cam Waters		-42	66
36	3	Austin Dillon		-69	39
37	54	Ty Gibbs		-92	16
38	11	Denny Hamlin		-106	2

# DENOTES ROOKIE
(i) NOT ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
(*) REQUIRED TO QUALIFY ON TIME