Kyle Larson earned his third NASCAR Cup victory of the season and took the points lead Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
The win is Larson’s 26th of his Cup career and comes a few days after he was granted a playoff waiver for not starting the Coca-Cola 600 because he was competing in the rain-delayed Indianapolis 500 on May 26.
Despite running one fewer race this season, Larson passed Denny Hamlin for the points lead. Larson has a 14-point lead on Chase Elliott. Hamlin is 26 points behind Larson.
MORE: Sonoma race results
MORE: Cup driver points
Larson won a race slowed by eight cautions, which was one shy of the race record.
Michael McDowell finished second. Chris Buescher, who entered the race holding the final playoff spot, placed third and won a stage. Elliott finished fourth. Ross Chastain completed the top five.
Martin Truex Jr. ran out of fuel on the last lap while running second and placed 27th.
Kyle Busch, who is outside a playoff spot, was in fifth on the last lap when contact with Chastain spun Busch and caused a tire to go down. Busch crossed the finish line 12th.
Stage 1 winner: Tyler Reddick
Stage 2 winner: Chris Buescher
Who had a good race: Kyle Larson has won two of the last five races he has started. ... Michael McDowell placed second for his third top-10 result in the last five races. It is his first top-five result since his victory last year on the Indy road course. ... Third-place finisher Chris Buescher has placed 11th or better in the last 13 road course races. He has placed in the top five in the last three Sonoma races. ... All three Spire Motorsports cars finished in the top 20 for the first time this season. Corey LaJoie was 11th, Zane Smith was 16th and Carson Hocevar was 17th. ... AJ Allmendinger’s sixth-place finish ties his best result of the season.
Who had a bad race: Denny Hamlin’s engine blew on the second lap and he finished last in the 38-car field. It’s the second year in a row that Hamlin has finished last at Sonoma. That snapped his streak of five consecutive top-five finishes. ... Martin Truex Jr. ran out of gas while running second and finished 27th.
Notable: This is the fifth different Cup season Kyle Larson has had at least three victories. ... Both Australian Supercar drivers in Sunday’s race finished outside the top 30. Will Brown was 31st, and Cam Waters finished 35th after he was eliminated due to an accident.
Next: The series runs June 16 at Iowa Speedway (7 p.m. ET on USA Network). It marks the inaugural Cup race at Iowa. NBC and USA Network will broadcast the final 20 Cup races of the season beginning at Iowa.
