Kyle Larson scores maiden NASCAR win

Kyle Larson has broken through for his first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup taking the chequered flag at the Pure Michigan 400.

He is the 13th different driver to win a race this season and firmly planted himself among those vying for the 16-car field in the Chase.

Larson beat home another young star in Chase Elliott after a restart with 10 laps to go. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet appeared to get loose and this allowed Larson a clear run through to victory in his 99th Cup Series start.

“We both spun our tyres really good,” said Larson.

“The 2 car (Brad Keselowski) — he pushed me really good. He could have pulled underneath and got by, but he stayed with me and got me the lead. So thanks to him. I’m still at a loss for words.”

Larson dedicated the win to his friend the late Bryan Clauson, who died earlier this month after an accident in a midget race in Kansas.

”I was tearing up those last few laps because I was feeling that was finally going to be it; we weren’t going to have a caution,” said Larson.

“This one’s for the Clauson family. We’re really missing Bryan. We love you guys. We parked it for him so that was really cool.”

Larson, who received congratulations from team owner Chip Ganassi and several fellow drivers as he kissed girlfriend Katelyn Sweet and son Owen, sealed the win on the final restart. He had Elliott and Brad Keselowski pushing hard off the line.

Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and series points leader Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five finishers at the 2-mile track.

Larson led a race-high 41 laps, followed by Jimmie Johnson, who led 37 laps and finished sixth.

The race featured the third time NASCAR used the 2017 low-downforce package to gather information for next season.

Only two races remain ahead of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup with the series heading to the famous Darlington Raceway and the Southern 500 next weekend.

VIDEO: Larson wins at Michigan

VIDEO: Victory Lane

 

RESULTS: Pure Michigan 400 – Michigan International Speedway

POS.	CAR #	DRIVER	MAKE	START	LAPS	LAPS LED	FINAL STATUS	POINTS	BONUS POINTS
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	12	200	41	Running	45	5
2	24	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	5	200	31	Running	40	1
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	18	200	14	Running	39	1
4	21	Ryan Blaney	Ford	7	200	0	Running	37	0
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	4	200	33	Running	37	1
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	2	200	37	Running	36	1
7	19	Carl Edwards	Toyota	9	200	1	Running	35	1
8	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	8	200	0	Running	33	0
9	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	3	200	0	Running	32	0
10	22	Joey Logano	Ford	1	200	24	Running	32	1
11	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	22	200	1	Running	31	1
12	41	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	19	200	0	Running	29	0
13	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	13	200	8	Running	29	1
14	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	11	200	0	Running	27	0
15	47	AJ Allmendinger	Chevrolet	25	200	0	Running	26	0
16	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	17	200	1	Running	26	1
17	31	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	10	200	1	Running	25	1
18	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	20	200	0	Running	23	0
19	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	16	199	0	Running	22	0
20	78	Martin Truex Jr	Toyota	14	199	7	Running	22	1
21	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	15	198	0	Running	20	0
22	13	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	28	198	0	Running	19	0
23	10	Danica Patrick	Chevrolet	23	198	0	Running	18	0
24	6	Trevor Bayne	Ford	24	198	0	Running	17	0
25	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	26	198	0	Running	16	0
26	7	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	31	198	1	Running	16	1
27	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	Ford	29	198	0	Running	14	0
28	44	Brian Scott	Ford	30	197	0	Running	13	0
29	23	David Ragan	Toyota	32	196	0	Running	12	0
30	88	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	6	195	0	Running	0	0
31	95	Michael McDowell	Chevrolet	35	195	0	Running	10	0
32	83	Matt DiBenedetto	Toyota	34	195	0	Running	9	0
33	46	Michael Annett	Chevrolet	36	195	0	Running	8	0
34	98	Cole Whitt	Chevrolet	37	194	0	Running	7	0
35	34	Chris Buescher	Ford	21	193	0	Running	6	0
36	55	Reed Sorenson	Chevrolet	39	193	0	Running	5	0
37	32	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Ford	40	192	0	Running	4	0
38	30	Josh Wise	Chevrolet	38	192	0	Running	3	0
39	38	Landon Cassill	Ford	33	174	0	Suspension	2	0
40	15	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	27	160	0	Running	1	0

 

STANDINGS

POS	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	DNF
1	Kevin Harvick	799	Leader	24	2	11	19	2
2	Brad Keselowski	774	-25	24	4	11	15	0
3	Carl Edwards	724	-75	24	2	7	15	4
4	Kurt Busch	721	-78	24	1	6	16	1
5	Joey Logano	716	-83	24	1	9	16	3
6	Kyle Busch	696	-103	24	4	11	15	5
7	Denny Hamlin	691	-108	24	2	8	13	3
8	Martin Truex Jr	652	-147	24	1	3	10	1
9	Jimmie Johnson	648	-151	24	2	7	10	4
10	Matt Kenseth	633	-166	24	2	4	10	3
11	Chase Elliott	628	-171	24	0	7	12	1
12	Austin Dillon	622	-177	24	0	4	10	1
13	Jamie McMurray	616	-183	24	0	1	8	1
14	Ryan Newman	601	-198	24	0	1	7	2
15	Kyle Larson	582	-217	24	1	5	8	2
16	Kasey Kahne	564	-235	24	0	2	6	1
17	Trevor Bayne	558	-241	24	0	2	5	0
18	Ryan Blaney	545	-254	24	0	2	7	2
19	AJ Allmendinger	544	-255	24	0	2	5	3
20	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	528	-271	24	0	3	5	3
21	Greg Biffle	472	-327	24	0	1	3	5
22	Dale Earnhardt Jr	461	-338	18	0	5	6	4
23	Paul Menard	454	-345	24	0	0	2	4
24	Danica Patrick	450	-349	24	0	0	0	3
25	Aric Almirola	422	-377	24	0	0	0	4
26	Tony Stewart	420	-379	16	1	5	7	2
27	Clint Bowyer	408	-391	24	0	0	3	2
28	Casey Mears	394	-405	24	0	0	0	0
29	Landon Cassill	357	-442	24	0	0	0	1
30	Chris Buescher	334	-465	24	1	2	2	4
31	David Ragan	327	-472	24	0	0	0	4
32	Regan Smith	309	-490	24	0	1	2	4
33	Brian Scott	304	-495	24	0	0	0	3
34	Michael McDowell	288	-511	20	0	0	1	2
35	Matt DiBenedetto	243	-556	24	0	0	1	8
36	Cole Whitt	239	-560	21	0	0	0	4
37	Michael Annett	210	-589	23	0	0	0	3
38	Josh Wise	123	-676	20	0	0	0	5
39	Reed Sorenson	113	-686	16	0	0	0	4
40	Jeff Gordon	99	-700	4	0	0	0	0
41	Brian Vickers	86	-713	5	0	0	1	1
42	Jeffrey Earnhardt	77	-722	12	0	0	0	1
43	Bobby Labonte	51	-748	3	0	0	0	0
44	David Gilliland	46	-753	2	0	0	0	0
45	Michael Waltrip	42	-757	2	0	0	0	0
46	Boris Said	17	-782	1	0	0	0	0
47	Patrick Carpentier	11	-788	2	0	0	0	0
48	Eddie MacDonald	5	-794	1	0	0	0	0
49	Alex Kennedy	5	-794	1	0	0	0	1
50	Robert Richardson	3	-796	1	0	0	0	1
51	Ty Dillon	0	-799	8	0	0	0	0
52	Alex Bowman	0	-799	2	0	0	0	0
53	Jeb Burton	0	-799	2	0	0	0	0
54	Joey Gase	0	-799	3	0	0	0	0
55	Ryan Ellis	0	-799	3	0	0	0	0
56	Dylan Lupton	0	-799	1	0	0	0	0
57	Justin Allgaier	0	-799	1	0	0	0	1
58	Cody Ware	0	-799	0	0	0	0	0