Larson grabs lead late, cruises to two-plus-second victory in the LiUNA! for first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts win of season

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By Kyle Foster, photo courtesy of Eric Thompson (Shamboozled.com) 

Kfost91197@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews

Las Vegas-Kyle Larson is a favorite whenever he hops in any race car. But just because you’re the favorite doesn’t mean it’s going to be a day where you win and dominate. 

In Saturday afternoon’s The LiUNA NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson had to fight all day before getting the win in his first start in the series for the season. 

Larson took the lead on lap 154 for the first time and drove out to a 2.2-second victory. He did this after getting fresh tires and restarting on the top line to drive to the front. 

Before this, Larson was just kind of mired in the back half of the top 10 throughout the race. He did, however, make it up to fourth at one point.   

“Yeah, I mean, just always good to win,” Larson said. “Our balance just wasn’t where we wanted it to be for the race. We were tight in practice, but I honestly, I thought, like, you know, it was in a comfortable spot. And usually I feel like these races free up to a start, but I was just really, really tight, you know, in the race as well. So, yeah, we didn’t have the speed.

But if there’s one thing that has been learned over all the years is to never count out Larson. This is also his second discipline he’s won this week, with a chance for a third on Sunday. 

Before that, he will be running the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing finale of the SugarBee Blackjack Bash. 

“I mean, it’d be cool anytime you just win, it feels great,” Larson said of the chance to win two races in a day. “ But do double duty. I’m sure a lot of the fans that were here to watch this race are headed over across the street. So would be neat to win in front of them twice in one day. And yeah, we’ll have a good shot. But you know, anytime you can get a win like that, where you stay in it mentally, and just keep getting the next pit stop and next restart, and then you have things work out, it is special.

Finishing in second in the race was fellow Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe. He hadn’t made a start in the series since 2019 in Vegas. 

He was able to vault to second after ripping the top side like someone who has dirt racing roots. 

“It was fun,” Briscoe explained. “Anytime you can run the wall, it’s fun.  But certainly these cars, like they just drive so different than the cup car as far how the wall affects the car.  The cup cars just drive so different now.”  

Finishing third was the first series regular Justin Allgaier, who is the defending winner of the race. This helps him maintain his points lead. He now holds a 13 point lead over Jesse Love.  

It was also a great day for Corey Day. He led laps and was in the top 10 all day before coming home in 7th. he also collected stage points in both stages.

The series will be back in action next Saturday at Darlington.