Larson Returns to Victory Lane in Las Vegas

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Larson won the Pennzoil 400 from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first victory with Hendrick Motorsports.

Larson was dominant on Sunday and, along with his other Hendrick teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron, ran up front for most of the race.  Larson led a race-high 103 laps.

After winning in just his fourth start with Hendrick Motorsports, Larson said the victory was special.

“It was such an awesome race car,” Larson said.  “I could go wherever I wanted to; I knew we had a pretty good car once we got single-filed out.  Thank you so much Mr. Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for the amazing opportunity I’ve been gifted.”

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Larson returned to the Cup Series in 2021 after being suspended for most of the 2020 season for uttering a racial slur during an iRacing event amidst the COVID shutdown.

Larson said he was thankful to get a win for Rick Hendrick while driving a paint scheme in honor of the team owner’s late son.

“I know this is Rick’s most special paint scheme, for obvious reason, and it’s just an honor for me to be able to drive it,” Larson said.  “Our first time out with this color scheme…this is definitely special.”

Brad Keselowski finished second on Sunday, but he wasn’t able to catch Larson over the final stage.  After closing in following a miscue by Larson before the final pit stop, Keselowski was unable to make the winning pass and saw Larson pull away over the final 30 laps.

Keselowski said Larson’s ability to put the car wherever it needed to go was the difference in the race.

“He was really fast,” Keselowski said.  “He had a lot of speed in all the lanes, which was really impressive.  Usually you have to make a compromise, but they were really good.”

“If Kyle Larson wasn’t here, it would have been a dominant day.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Kyle Busch

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Christopher Bell

8. William Byron

9. Joey Logano

10. Erik Jones

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

12. Austin Dillon

13. Chase Elliott

14. Chris Buescher

15. Ryan Preece

16. Matt DiBenedetto

17. Michael McDowell

18. Ryan Newman

19. Kurt Busch

20. Kevin Harvick

21. Chase Briscoe

22. Tyler Reddick

23. Ross Chastain

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Cole Custer

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Alex Bowman

28. Bubba Wallace

29. Justin Haley

30. BJ McLeod

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Cody Ware

33. Quin Houff

34. Joey Gase

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Timmy Hill

37. Corey LaJoie

38. Aric Almirola

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