After having a couple of potential wins slip away from him this season, Kyle Larson had to be calmed down on Sunday during another strong run.
Fortunately, he got it all together.
Larson won the final race off pit road, held on over two restarts and scored his first 2023 victory in Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
In the first of three straight weeks of short-track racing in the NASCAR Cup Series, Larson and the field pitted with 25 laps left after Tyler Reddick’s spin on Lap 372 brought out the seventh caution.
Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet emerged with the lead and won a 14-lap dash to the checkers over teammate Josh Berry, the replacement in the No. 9 for injured Chase Elliott.
“We’ve been really close to winning a couple,” said Larson. “William (Byron) has been extremely good this year. It was going to be between him, (Martin Truex Jr.), us and (Christopher Bell) was really good.”
Larson led 93 laps in his 20th career win. His previous win at RIR was on Sept. 9, 2017.
But the triumph wasn’t without a major problem.
Larson struck the No. 99 of Daniel Suarez during Stage 2. The handling on his Camaro then went away as he drifted back in the top 10.
“We were awful after that,” said the Elk Grove, Calif., native. “I was hoping the damage was the reason why. They had to calm me down a little bit and get refocused and I was able to get it done.”
Berry’s team kept him out on older tires to gain track position, and the 32-year-old sub recorded his best career win.
“What a huge day,” said Berry. “To come here and start in the back with no practice and qualifying, get spun out, work through the field like that to second place. That’s pretty cool.”
Ross Chastain, Bell and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
With qualifying washed out, NASCAR used a performance-based metric that put Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman on the front row beside Kyle Busch for the 400-lap race at the 3/4-mile track.
Byron, who led a race-high 117 laps, quickly charged to the front from third place in his No. 24 Chevy and dominated Stage 1 to record his series-best fifth stage win.
Larson led 67 laps and was in control of Stage 2 until he pitted under green and made hard contact with Suarez’s Chevy.
Eventually, Larson lost the handling on his Camaro due to the incident and was passed by Byron and Bell before the segment ended.
Bell’s No. 20 Toyota got better on the longer run and slipped past Byron to lead for the first time in the final 25 laps of Stage 2.
However, Denny Hamlin maneuvered his No. 11 Camry by Bell’s to the point with two circuits left to claim the stage — the first for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2023.
–Field Level Media
