By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
Despite igniting a late-race pileup and running out of fuel in overtime, Kyle Larson recovered to score a top-10 finish in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
As the NASCAR Cup Series field lined up for the first attempt at overtime, Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 lined up in third, behind race leader Denny Hamlin. The duo already had a run-in earlier in the race with Hamlin showing his displeasure after the end of Stage 2. Entering Turn 1, Larson drove deep, trying to make the No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE to wash up the track.
However, it was the Hendrick Motorsports driver that was sent up the track. Larson clipped Ross Chastain, sending the No. 1 Busch Beer Chevrolet spinning into the outside wall from second place. The ensuing melee swept up 10 more cars, ending the day for Chastain, Austin Dillon, and John Hunter Nemechek.
The ‘cautions breed cautions’ effect was in full swing as the second overtime resulted in a caution. On the third attempt to complete the race, Larson’s car stumbled on the restart. The chain reaction behind him sent Kyle Busch spinning into the outside wall. Luckily for Larson, it would take another two attempts to complete the race. Keeping his car clean and avoiding the carnage, he climbed back up to eighth by the checkered flag.
“Just a lot of craziness there at the end,” Larson said. “There were a lot of cars short on fuel and we were one of them. Just a lot of mess. On the first restart, I was just trying to get Denny washed off the bottom so that I could get some clean air and give myself an opportunity to win. I felt like from the second position, I wouldn’t have a chance.
“I just tried to run in with him and got myself really tight and into Ross and caused that crash. And then on the next restart, I just got out of shape and almost caused a crash there. On the third one, we ran out of fuel taking off. We just had a couple of good restarts right there at the end. Happy to get a top-10, but a little bit bummed how it transpired.”
Larson finished a caution-free Stage 1 in fourth. After an intense battle with Hamlin that saw the latter show his anger during the stage break, the Hendrick driver finished Stage 2 in third. In total, Larson earned an additional 15 points from the two stages.
The top-10 finish combined with 15 stage points aided the 2021 Cup Series champion’s bid to retake the points leader. Larson leads his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott by 20-points.
Next for Larson is the Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 7, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The race will also be broadcast on both the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.