By Seth Eggert, Writer
CONCORD, N.C. – Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson settled for a runner-up finish after a “fun” battle for the lead with Trackhouse Racing’s Shane van Gisbergen in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL.
Larson assumed the lead on the final restart, bringing Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell with him. The duo initially pulled away from Gisbergen’s No. 88 WeatherTech Chevrolet until they pitted on lap 72.
The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet inherited the lead when the New Zealander hit pit road two laps later with 25 to go. For a time, Larson thought he had a shot at the win.
“I mean he was riding and I was trying to kind of just strategize my race a little differently there and felt like, maybe if I could get to the lead here and maybe bring Bell along with me, I could stretch out,” Larson explained. “It was kind of playing out that way, but he’s just so good on the long runs with this stuff. So for, I don’t know, 30 minutes or so, I was like, man, I got a really good shot to win this. And then he started charging.”
The shot at a win flashed when Gisbergen caught the Elk Grove, Calif. native with 14 laps to go. The rookie Cup Series driver dove in late in turn seven and hit Larson in the driver’s side door.
The 33-year-old responded by not letting Gisbergen back onto the banking in the oval section and then giving a slam of his own entering the backstretch chicane. Finally Larson sent the road course ace into the frontstretch chicane and forced him wide exiting turn two. Gisbergen caught the Hendrick Motorsports driver with 12 to go and cleanly drove by him for the lead, and ultimately the win.
“It was fun,” Larson said. “He was way, way faster and he was going to pass me eventually, any time he really wanted to. I thought he was a fair bit back in turn seven, so I opened up and he drove right into the side of me.
“So I was like, all right, well, that’s kind of fair game, I’m going to hit you a couple of times now, but I didn’t want to crash him or anything like that. I was able to get back to the lead and kind of get Bell back in the mix and was hoping something crazy might happen and we could have a better opportunity but he’s just way better.”
Larson settled into second as Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE hit pit road. With the high tire wear, no one contested the 2021 Cup Series champion in the final 11 laps, allowing him to earn his first top five finish since the Brickyard 400 at Indiana’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and first top-five on a road course this season.
“I think we just executed the whole weekend better than we had all year on road courses,” Larson stated. “I feel like we really got our road course car better at Mexico, but we got wiped out in the rain in the first few laps, so we didn’t get to show for it, but we got the fastest lap.
“We had brake problems at Watkins Glen in the first few laps, so we didn’t get to show for it there but we had the fastest lap. And then we were able to come here and execute qualifying well and just do a good job and really kind of show, I think, where our car speed is at on the road courses. That was nice to see because all my finishes on row course have been like 30th this year. I just don’t know where we would stack up but good to get a solid weekend for sure.”
With the top five finish Larson secured a spot in the Round of Eight for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The Round of Eight begins with the South Point 400 at Las Vegas (NV) Motor Speedway.
In 18 starts at the Las Vegas oval the NASCAR Drive for Diversity alumnus has three victories, most recently in the 2024 Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube.
Broadcast coverage of the South Point 400 at Las Vegas is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 12 at 5:30 p.m. ET, live on the USA Network, Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.