In the pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
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Tony Stewart finished 21st but clinched a Chase spot in his final season because he secured a top-30 finish in points to go with his win in June at Sonoma.
“It’s good to be able to park it in Victory Lane, like he would have said”, Larson said. “It was finally going to be it”.
“Starting out in Chicago, that’s a great one for me”, Larson said. We’re really missing Bryan. And Alex Bowman, that kid driving the 88, I felt bad for him with that ignition/ECU problem, because he was going to be in the top five all day long. We stayed out on those really long runs and kept gaining spots, climbed all the way from 18th to fourth or fifth there, which was really, really good.
When it came to stock cars, Larson won his first ever start at New Smyrna Speedway at age 19, then repeated as a victor at the same track in the highly competitive World Series of Asphalt Racing.
The win was part of a NASCAR history-making weekend, as it was the first time in a single NASCAR three-race weekend that each of the three national divisions produced first-time winners.
Sunday’s victory was more than just Larson’s first win.
“I remember when I got into this business, James Finch told me it took a hundred races before these guys could figure it out”, said team owner Chip Ganassi. “We’ve been building over the years, he came on board, the team rallied around him”.
“Man, I was tearing up that whole last few laps because I could just feel it, it was finally going to be it”, Larson said. You do have to put yourself in those situations more often to see how you’re going to handle them and how you can fix them going forward.
Any time we have a first-time victor, and link that with the fact that the entire weekend was about drivers getting their first career wins in their respective series, that’s what really creates an exciting, fun weekend of NASCAR racing. He woke up thinking it was still a dream, but in reality, he got his first win. Thanks to (sponsor) Target. Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and the pit crew and everybody.
Gordon retired at the end of last season, although he’s been back behind the wheel recently to replace the injured Earnhardt. Larson closed in on Elliott, but bobbled in lapped traffic with just under 20 laps remaining, allowing Elliott to regrow his cushion.
Formula One: Although Nico Rosberg trimmed rival Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the title race after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, it was Hamilton who seemed the happier driver after turning a back-row start into a third-place finish.
WHO’S HOT: Points leader Kevin Harvick followed up his win at Bristol with a fifth-place showing at MI.
Throughout the second half of the race, winless drivers Larson and rookie Chase Elliott ran first and second, with the exception of laps during cycles of green-flag pit stops.
Kyle Busch is the defending series champion who has won four times this season while his teammates Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth each have a pair of wins.
Elliott led by 2.86 seconds with 28 laps to go Sunday, and it looked as if Larson’s chance to catch him had been derailed when he lost ground passing a lapped auto.
Pole-sitter Joey Logano of Penske led the first 24 laps but lost it to Kevin Harvick on a restart on Lap 25. Unfortunately, he was lined up behind his friend Chase Elliott for the re-start.
And you know what? In Sprint Cup, he matched the hot start in his rookie year – but it took him a while to actually finish things off with a win. Elliott, who is also looking for his first victory, finished second.
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“I probably went a little overboard”, Larson said Monday.
