Kyle Larson wins again at Kansas, dominating for his 3rd NASCAR Cup Series win this season

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of his second straight spring victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

After putting his No. 5 car on the pole for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson led 221 of 267 laps, winning both stages and cruising to his third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. He was never challenged down the stretch by second-finishing Christopher Bell — and he most certainly didn't need another last-lap pass to win at the wire like he did a year ago.

The margin over Chris Buescher then was 0.001 seconds, the closest in Cup Series history. It was 0.712 seconds on Sunday.

''Glad to not win by an inch this time,'' Larson said with a smile. ''A little safer gap.''

Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at ''the Double'' — running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend.

Last year, he contended in the rain-delayed Indy 500 before a speeding penalty on pit road resulted in an 18th-place finish. He then hopped a flight to Charlotte for the NASCAR race, but rain there kept him from ever completing a lap.

''It's a cool win here at Kansas,'' Larson said in victory lane, ''and now we'll try to execute two good weeks at Indy.''

Even though Larson spent most of a hot, sunny day at Kansas in the lead, he found himself trailing Chase Elliott early in the final stage. But when Elliott's team dropped the jack too soon before his right rear tire was on during a pit stop, Larson was able to get back to the front on the restart, and he spent the last 50 laps cruising to the checkered flag.

Bell, a three-time winner already, finished in the top three for the sixth time this season. Ryan Blaney came in third, giving Team Penske another good run after Austin Cindric won two weeks ago at Talladega and Joey Logano won last week at Texas.

''I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan was coming on really strong there,'' Bell said. ''I feel like our day was kind of a product of qualifying well and having good pit stops and restarts.''

Blaney knew he was coming on strong, too, but he was left to lament what might have been.

''We were kind of running those guys down quick,'' Blaney said. ''A few more laps, I would have scared the 5 a bit at least.''

Chase Briscoe finished fourth and Larson's teammate Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

Brad Keselowski looked as if he might finally have his first top-10 finish this season. He started from the rear but steadily made his way forward, and the 2012 series champion had moved into second behind Elliott when his right rear went down with 72 laps to go. Keselowski wound up in the wall, ending his hopes of contending.

''I mean, it was going to be a great day," Keselowski said. "I heard a big boom and around it went. It's unfortunate.''

Denny Hamlin also had a fast car all afternoon, but he wound up fighting a clutch problem that made pitting a nightmare. He was still running with the leaders before Keselowski's caution, when yet more clutch trouble finally ruined his day.

''Really fast again,'' Hamlin said. ''Just can't keep it together right now.''

Green and yellow

There had been only one non-stage caution before Keselowski hit the wall. Cody Ware, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon brought out another in a wreck on the restart; Kyle Busch was bumped and spun to bring out another yellow on the next restart; and Justin Haley, Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace were involved in another wreck on a third consecutive restart.

Odds and ends

Larson won for the 32nd time, and joined Hamlin and Busch as the only active Cup Series drivers to have led more than 10,000 laps. ... Briscoe was fourth for the fourth time this season. He has yet to finish better. ... Larson made it three straight wins for Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway. Ross Chastain won the fall race last season. ... Hamlin's streak of seven straight top-10s at Kansas ended. He finished 36th. ... Logano challenged for second late in the race before finishing ninth.

Up next

The All-Star Race is up next Sunday at North Wilkesboro, where Logano is the defending champ. There are changes to the format this year, including an optional promoter's caution flag, which could dramatically reshape the 250-lap race.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing