Fifty-one races, and finally
A year and four months without throwing his arms in the air. Kyle Larson still rolled into the St. Louis area thinking something was in the cards.
He was right.
The two-time Cup Series champion won the Enjoy Illinois 300 overnight in Madison, Illinois, on a second overtime restart. His No. 5 Chevrolet held off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman by 0.333 seconds.
"I had a good feeling, but you never know," Larson said after leading 80 laps. "I’m proud of my team for staying patient through all those tough stretches and this winless run."
It was his first win since Kansas in May last season, and Chevrolet’s first since Shane van Gisbergen took Sonoma on June 28.
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Eighteen cautions, and the brakes gave out
The race came apart in pieces. Eighteen cautions, a track record.
Tyler Reddick slammed the wall at the first yellow. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun. Daniel Suarez got swept into a pile-up with van Gisbergen, Michael McDowell and Noah Gragson. Zane Smith wrecked his Ford on lap 131.
Then the brake failures started. Ryan Blaney hit the wall on the back straight on lap 155. With 27 laps left, Chase Elliott lost his brakes and shoved Chase Briscoe’s Toyota into the turn 1 mess.
Joey Logano led 96 laps, more than anyone. He finished third. That is a long day at the front for very little.
Hamlin salvages ninth and keeps the points lead
William Byron and Ross Chastain completed the top five.
Denny Hamlin got buried by a botched pit stop and clawed his way back to ninth. The points leader stays nine clear of Larson and 18 ahead of Christopher Bell.
Larson does not have to care about any of that now. A playoff win locks you into the next round. The math can wait.
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