Kyle Larson had to navigate lapped traffic in the closing laps and hold off his hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott – the track’s most prolific winner of late – to earn the victory in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen.
Larson has been a driver to count on this season, finishing either first or second 10 times through the 23 races to date. And Sunday’s trophy at the historic Watkins Glen International road course is the California native’s NASCAR Cup Series-best fifth of the year; 11th of his career.
His 2.430-second victory over Elliott was good enough to move him into a tie with Denny Hamlin for the regular season championship with only three races remaining before the Playoffs.
It marked the eighth Hendrick Motorsports victory in the last 11 races and the fourth time Larson and Elliott have finished 1-2 – the third time at a road course event.
Larson led the final 27 laps of the 90-lap event, taking the lead for good from Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex, Jr., who had paced the field for a race best 34 laps. Elliott got around Truex with nine laps remaining to claim second place.
Truex finished third, followed by his JGR teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Hendrick driver William Byron was sixth with JGR’s Christopher Bell, Stewart-Haas teammates Kevin Harvick and Chase Briscoe and Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick rounding out the top 10.
“Chase (Elliott) was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track so when I caught those, I think four (lapped) cars and got into the 38 (Anthony Alfredo) right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and the 9 (Elliott) would be right on me, but thankfully had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that,” said Larson, who apologized to his friend Bell during his post-race interview. The two made contact racing door-to-door for second place late in the race.
“Incredible race today, hats off to Hendrick Motorsports,” added Larson, “It’s awesome. It really just shows how good the organization is, all the people that they’ve assembled at the race shop, all the men and women. All four of us (Hendrick drivers) could not be getting these wins like we have been without them. Thanks to them and thanks to everybody else I get to race for.”
Although Elliott had to settle for a runner-up showing, it was an incredible drive for the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and two-time Watkins Glen winner. He started the race from the last row – and his crew chief Alan Gustafson was suspended – after his car failed pre-race technical inspection.
Elliott steadily made his way forward, picking off cars with each turn. And as with Larson, he had to navigate that lapped traffic in the closing laps, which essentially cost him any shot at getting close enough to his teammate to challenge for the lead.
“I made too many mistakes to get the win unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” the Dawsonville, Georgia native said. “Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it.”
With three races remaining to set the Playoff field, Reddick gave himself a little more cushion room in that 16th and final transfer position. He improved his advantage over his Richard Childress Racing teammate, 17th place Austin Dillon, from six points entering the race to 15 points heading to Indianapolis next week.
NASCAR Cup Series
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY
Go Bowling at The Glen – August 8, 2021
1. (4) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 90.
2. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 90.
3. (9) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 90.
4. (20) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 90.
5. (6) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 90.
6. (15) William Byron, Chevrolet, 90.
7. (7) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 90.
8. (5) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 90.
9. (27) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 90.
10. (13) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 90.
11. (14) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 90.
12. (12) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 90.
13. (17) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 90.
14. (3) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 90.
15. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 90.
16. (8) Aric Almirola, Ford, 90.
17. (24) Chris Buescher, Ford, 90.
18. (19) Cole Custer, Ford, 90.
19. (18) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 90.
20. (10) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 90.
21. (25) Michael McDowell, Ford, 90.
22. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 90.
23. (26) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 90.
24. (29) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 90.
25. (28) Ryan Newman, Ford, 89.
26. (31) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 89.
27. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 89.
28. (23) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 89.
29. (30) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, 89.
30. (33) Kyle Tilley, Ford, 89.
31. (21) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 88.
32. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 88.
33. (34) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 88.
34. (37) R.C. Enerson, Chevrolet, 88.
35. (1) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 87.
36. (32) Garrett Smithley(i), Ford, 87.
37. (36) James Davison, Ford, Electrical, 41.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 101.031 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 57 Secs. Margin of Victory: 2.430 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 6 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Keselowski 1-9;J. Logano 10-20;K. Larson 21;R. Stenhouse Jr. 22;M. Truex Jr. 23-56;D. Hamlin 57-62;K. Busch 63-64;K. Larson 65-90.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Martin Truex Jr. 1 time for 34 laps; Kyle Larson 2 times for 27 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 11 laps; Brad Keselowski 1 time for 9 laps; Denny Hamlin 1 time for 6 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 2 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,5,11,8,24,18,48,9,3,43
Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,20,4,5,14,42,21,11,22,18
Playoff Standings: 1. Kyle Larson – 917 (5 Wins); 2. Martin Truex, Jr. – 740 (3 Wins); 3. Alex Bowman – 633 (3 Wins); 4. Kyle Busch – 779 (2 Wins); 5. Chase Elliott – 749 – (2 Wins); 6. William Byron – 786 (1 Win); 7. Joey Logano – 760 – (1 Win); 8. Ryan Blaney – 712 (1 Win); 9. Brad Keselowski – 678 (1 Win); 10. Kurt Busch – 576 (1 Win); 11. Christopher Bell – 571 (1 Win); 12. Michael McDowell – 464 (1 Win); 13. Aric Almirola – 398 (1 Win); 14. Denny Hamlin – 917 (Tied For Points Lead With Larson); 15. Kevin Harvick – 710; 16. Tyler Reddick – 630.
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