Larson Wins Regular Season Finale

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson ended the regular season with a victory in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway.

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Larson led 53 laps on Saturday, but he needed to use a late-race pit stop to take the lead for the final time.  His pit crew got him out front heading into overtime, and he was able to pull away from the field to head to victory lane.

Larson said he was excited his team was able to get him his first victory at a track shorter than 2 miles.

“This is amazing,” Larson said.  “My whole team, especially my pit crew tonight, were awesome.  The best pit crew showed up tonight…they were money all night long.”

Martin Truex Jr. dominated the race again, but Larson was able to get ahead on the final restart.  Larson said he knew he’d need a caution to catch Truex in the closing laps.

“The Target Chevy was great all night, but [Truex] was definitely the best,” Larson said.  “That was such a long run there at the end, I knew I needed a caution if I wanted a shot.”

“I’m really pumped for the playoffs; we’ve got a great shot at the championship.”

Truex led a race-high 198 laps, but wrecked in the closing laps for the second week in a row and finished 20th. 

Truex said he was unhappy with the final caution for Derrike Cope with four laps to go.

“Tonight sucked, plain and simple,” Truex said.  “Caution for a guy that shouldn’t even be out there is kind of ridiculous.  I don’t really know what to say about all that.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Joey Logano

3. Ryan Newman

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Erik Jones

7. Daniel Suarez

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kyle Busch

10. Chase Elliott

11. Brad Keselowski

12. Kasey Kahne

13. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

14. Jamie McMurray

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Michael McDowell

17. Aric Almirola

18. Ryan Blaney

19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

20. Martin Truex Jr.

21. Austin Dillon

22. Ty Dillon

23. Danica Patrick

24. Clint Bowyer

25. Trevor Bayne

26. AJ Allmendinger

27. David Ragan

28. Paul Menard

29. Corey LaJoie

30. Reed Sorenson

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Chris Buescher

33. Cole Whitt

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt

35. Gray Gaulding

36. Derrike Cope

37. BJ McLeod

38. Matt Kenseth

39. Landon Cassill

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images