Kyle Larson has put himself in the playoffs after winning Sunday’s Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Larson dominated Sunday as he swept the stages, led 181 laps and held off a hard-charging Tyler Reddick on the final run to the checkered flag.
Reddick finished second. Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and William Byron all scored top-10 finishes in a race featuring six cautions.
MORE: Las Vegas Cup results
Reddick didn’t have the speed early in runs but he was able to chase down Larson at the end of all three stages with a Toyota that performed well on long, green flag runs. He finished second in stages 1 and 2 and then began pressuring Larson for the lead with 10 laps remaining in the race.
What unfolded was a back-and-forth between two drivers capable of running every line on the track. Reddick would race up against the wall while Larson raced down by the apron. Larson would then move up the track to block while Reddick would dive low.
Reddick erased a one-second lead and put himself within two-tenths of a second with two laps remaining. Reddick just couldn’t complete the pass. He lost his momentum as Larson took the white flag.
“I knew Tyler was going to be the guy to beat from the first stage,” Larson told Fox Sports. “He was really fast there.
“I was hoping those guys were going to get racing a little bit longer behind me because I felt like it was going to time out where he was running really hard and getting the tow to catch me at the end.”
Sunday marked the third time since 2021 that Larson led more than 100 laps at Las Vegas and won the race. This is the third time in the past four seasons where Larson has won by the fourth race of the season. He won at Las Vegas in 2021 (fourth race), Fontana in 2022 (second race) and Las Vegas this season.
Hendrick Motorsports has won the last four spring races at Las Vegas. Larson has two of these wins (2021, 2024) while Alex Bowman (2022) and Byron (2023) each have one.
While Larson delivered a dominant performance, other drivers dealt with mistakes and unexpected issues that disrupted their afternoon in Nevada.
Chris Buescher had the biggest issue. The lug nut and wheel came off the right side of his No. 17 Ford on Lap 27, which sent him hard into the outside wall. Buescher was unable to continue as he finished 37th.
Chris Buescher is done for the day. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/KiOmHbttcV
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 3, 2024
“We lost the nut and lost half the wheel,” Buescher said after the incident. “I think the tire stayed up under the fender. I’m not exactly sure just yet, but it looks like the nut came off and something in the suspension actually cut the wheel in half.”
Byron, the defending winner of the spring Las Vegas race, fell one lap down in the opening stage after the wind blew a large garbage bag onto the grill of his Chevrolet. Byron had to head to pit road as the temperature of his engine reached 350 degrees.
Byron was able to recover and secure a top-10 finish. He is one of six drivers with a series-high two top-10 finishes in the first three races, joining Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Chastain, Gibbs and Gragson.
Kyle Busch ran inside the top 10 in all three stages while scoring stage points in the first. A slow stop kept Busch from scoring points in stage 2 and then a penalty for pitting outside his box in the final stage dropped him to 30th and one lap behind the leaders. Busch finished 26th.
Wallace had his own issue on pit road. The team could not get the left front tire off during a stage 2 stop due to the lug nut. The team tried again during the stage 2 break and continued working into the final stage before finally removing the tire. Wallace was able to return to the track but was 12 laps down.
Christopher Bell had multiple incidents at Las Vegas. He spun on Lap 10 with a flat rear tire and had to make an unscheduled pit stop. Bell recovered and finished 10th in stage 1 but spun once again near the end of stage 2. Bell ended the race 33rd and two laps behind the leaders.
Reddick had issues of his own on pit road. He lost 10 spots on his pit stop after stage 1. He slid through his stall and had to back up to avoid a pitting outside the box penalty.
“We had a really good Nasty Beast Toyota Camry and just stupid mistakes on pit road,” Reddick said after the race.
Despite the issues on pit road, Reddick was able to challenge for the win and finish second. This was a turnaround after he started the season by finishing 29th and 30th at Daytona and Atlanta.
The Cup season continues Sunday, March 10, at Phoenix Raceway.
