FRONT ROW NIGHTMARE: Chris Buescher got himself into the top 30 of the Sprint Cup Series standings last week at Bristol Motor Speedway, which triggered a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff based on his Pocono win earlier this month.
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Kyle Larson claimed his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, clinching a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He won both previous MI races he started from the pole.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Kyle Larson first took off his steering wheel and hung it out the window as he did celebratory burnouts.
Larson completed the final laps with tears in his eyes, not simply for his first win, but also because it came just weeks after the death of his good friend, and fellow racer, Bryan Clauson, who passed away on August 7th, following injuries sustained in a dirt racing accident.
Keselowski finished third, another Sprint Cup rookie, Ryan Blaney, was fourth and Bakersfield’s Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.
Once in victory lane, the emotion continued. Part of it came for driving for an organization trying to dig itself out of a downturn, some of it was inexperience and some of it was plain driver error.
The outside is a tough place to be when you drive for Chip Ganassi, who fields winning cars in six different series and can be a bit demanding. The belief within the NASCAR garage is that it’s always easier to win your second race than your first as the pressure and scrutiny, which can easily manifest itself into self-doubt, are alleviated. Larson is the 13 different victor this season. “That’s no secret. He says he loves winners in every tweet he sends”. On the target talk herself into staying out to more laps or three more laps and you know those guys are being lap time and check position you know with each left it. Forcing you can do is looking for sure and and and ran out of fuel opinion.
Yet unlike Gordon and Stewart, the 24-year-old Larson didn’t have immediate, transcendent success when he jumped into NASCAR’s top division in 2014. He was. Who is now happy that brown is anything we lot better than Brad and their way in my side and Versace’s Miami and knew after about a lap of him not closing on me I kind of need thousands of women race another cost amounts us pretty calm for a couple laps. With only 2 races left, there are plenty of drivers in contention to qualify for the chase, but only 3 spots left. Still seeking his first victory in his rookie season, Elliott had an opportunity to win at MI in June but likewise fell victim to a late restart.
“Starting out in Chicago, that’s a great one for me”, Larson said. “Why didn’t you do this or that?'” Ganassi said. I asked my guys to bail me out and they did. “I’ve been so close here at Road America for a few years”.
In a late race restart in June at the two-mile speedway, he and Kyle Larson faced off against Joey Logano and lost to the Penske veteran.
Edwards finished seventh, Hamlin ninth, Kenseth 13th and Busch was 19th after spinning early in the race. Unfortunately, Michael Annett blew a right front tire gave Larson the chance to close the gap.
That’s when the nerves began to take hold. “I don’t know. We lost our track position early in the race which hurt us and then we got our auto balance fixed but it is so hard to pass”. “I knew what was at stake there on the restart, it was a huge restart”. He could have pulled underneath and got by, but he stayed with me and got me the lead. “There was just a lot on the line”. Instead, he said Elliott took off in the exact same spot in what turned out to be a tire-spinning poor restart for both drivers. We had a really good vehicle and had an opportunity.
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“This feels different because it’s taken me a lot longer than it took me in any of the other stuff to get a win”, said Larson. It took three years to get to victory lane in the Sprint Cup.
