NASCAR News: Kyle Larson dominates at Charlotte Roval

Driving the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Kyle Larson captured his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2024 in the Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval Sunday evening.

Christopher Bell finished runner-up, with William Byron, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott completing the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top 10.

Logano, Cindric, Daniel Suárez and Chase Briscoe were eliminated from title contention, trimming the postseason field from 12 to eight. Suárez finished 31st, while Briscoe ended the race in 37th after a flat tire derailed him early.

Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 10, 2021 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Mirroring his rout in the final Round of 16 event at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson grabbed the lead for the restart of Stage 2 and stayed out front for 62 of the final 82 laps at the 2.28-mile, 17-turn Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 1.511 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell, the only driver who could stay in the same zip code with the race winner. Third-place William Byron was 8.965 seconds behind at the finish.

With his sixth victory of the season, his second at the Roval and the 29th of his career, Larson led two other Hendrick teammates into the final eight — Byron and fifth-place finisher Chase Elliott.

“Really, it’s the first time in my playoff career I’ve not been close to the cut line, so it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend,” said Larson, whose previous win at the Roval came during his 2021 championship season. “I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe, besides the other time I won.

“It’s known that I don’t really use the sim (simulator) much, and I was in the sim this week. It really helped me get into a rhythm I think early on and helped us kind of fine-tune our car, too.”

Joining Bowman on the sidelines were Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (fourth on Sunday), Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez (31st) and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe (37th), leaving reigning series champion Ryan Blaney (10th) and Logano as the two Ford drivers left in the playoff field.

If Larson’s dominating run stole the suspense from his victory, Reddick’s charge over the final 26-lap green-flag run provided nail-biting drama.

After pole winner Shane van Gisbergen (21 laps led) and Larson pitted from the top two spots in Stage 1, Reddick, the regular-season champion, stayed out in the lead to collect 10 stage points and an additional playoff point on Lap 25.

A pit stop during the stage break mired Reddick in traffic for a Lap 30 restart, and then calamity struck. In the newly reconfigured Turn 7 hairpin — the new corner of chaos — Austin Dillon turned sideways in a melee that saw Reddick smash into his 23XI Racing team co-owner Denny Hamlin, sending Reddick’s car skyward.

Reddick’s car was severely damaged, and only a succession of pit stops throughout the remainder of the race — including a lengthy sojourn under caution to repair the left-rear toe link — made it competitive for the final run.

“Yeah, I thought I was going to flip, but I think I was behind the 19 (Martin Truex Jr.) — trying to work the move to the inside,” Reddick said of the wreck. “I got clear of him — I saw the 3 (Dillon) spun and everyone on the binders coming to a stop, and of course, me and my boss (Hamlin) get together. It was like I was going to do a front flip. This thing was absolutely destroyed.

“Huge props to everyone on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry. This thing couldn’t go within four seconds of what the pace was, and we just kept working on it. We were a lot better in Stage 3. This is how this place can be sometimes, but it is really nice to pull this off.”

It was crew chief Billy Scott’s call to bring Reddick to pit road for new tires under caution on Lap 82 that proved decisive. The fresh Goodyears were the ammunition Reddick needed to pass 15 cars during the final run and eclipse Logano’s point total by four.

But the drama became moot with Bowman’s disqualification.

“You just have to stay calm,” Reddick said. “You just have to stay focused. In those moments, it is so easy to lose control. Either way, I was going to drive the car as fast as I could. It just worked out for us that this thing was able to get back through the field and get us to the good side of the cut line.”

By the time the second stage ended, Larson and Bell had clinched spots in the Round of 8. Hamlin, who ran 14th on Sunday, also advanced. Bowman was nine points above the elimination line at the finish before the crushing disqualification and would have been the fourth Hendrick driver in the final eight.

At the checkered flag on Sunday, AJ Allmendinger was sixth, followed by Van Gisbergen, Logano, Bubba Wallace, Blaney and Reddick.

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without further issue, confirming Larson as the race winner. The No. 48 Chevrolet will be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Kyle Larson

THE MODERATOR: Bristol was Owen’s turn. Charlotte is Audrey’s turn to be able to celebrate with Dad and go collect a checkered flag. What a win. This team finished the first round of the playoffs with a dominant win at Bristol. They finished the second round of the playoffs with a dominant win here at the Charlotte Motor Speedway at the ROVAL.

Hey, Kyle, special delivery from Audrey. Here you go, checkered flag. How about that? This moment for the Larson family. Let’s talk about this win for you guys. How was this to have a non-pressure-packed day for you?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, really it’s the first time in my playoff career I’ve not been close to the cut line, so it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend. I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe besides the other time I won.

Good weekend. Thanks to Hendrickscars.com, Hendrick Automotive Group. Obviously we’re here in Hendrick’s home and got so many people here from there. Going to be fun to celebrate with them.

Thanks to Cliff Daniels, Chevrolet, GM too. It’s known that I don’t really use the sim much, and I was in the sim this week. Huge thank you to you guys there.

It really helped me get into a rhythm I think early on and helped us kind of fine-tune our car too. Hats off to everybody there, and JINYA Ramen Bar, Prime.

It’s awesome having Audrey here. We have an 8:40 p.m. flight. I think we’re going to miss that probably, but we’ll catch Owen and Katelyn and Audrey in Cabo. We’re going to Cabo this week, and hopefully will make it there.

THE MODERATOR: You celebrated with Owen because you had a boys weekend. Did Audrey see that and say, Hey, when is my turn, Dad?

KYLE LARSON: Well, yeah. It’s great to have Audrey here, but the reason why we’re here is Owen was off racing this week in Oklahoma with Katelyn and Cooper, and Audrey had a baseball game yesterday. So we had to stay here for that.

It’s always fun getting to hang out with your kids and getting to have these special moments. I know she was jealous to see Owen at Bristol, and glad to have this moment with her.

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