Ned Jarrett won 50 Sprint Cup races and was named one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998.
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In fact, Larson lost the lead to race runner-up Chase Elliott when both drivers made their final pit stops under green on Lap 156 of 200. Larson had a chance to win at Dover in the spring but elected to race eventual victor Matt Kenseth cleanly over the races final stages.
He was thinking about his close friend, Bryan Clauson, a dirt-track racer who died in a crash at a Kansas track recently. Larson led a race-high 41 laps. Then. Search shaken. Ladies who have known her for a couple laps and then cabin in the last and who like to thirtieth 2000.
“I think with two to go, I was starting to get choked up”, he said. “It was finally going to be it”.
“This one’s different just because of how long we had to wait and how much harder I’ve had to work for it”. We’re proud of those guys. “And we’re also going there to stretch the points lead”.
Larson’s victory snapped a 99-race losing streak for Chip Ganassi Racing. His victory at Pocono was the first of his career.
“He hung in there with our team”, Ganassi said. “Kyle and everybody knew it was a matter of win”. For the second time, this has happened. I’m lucky we didn’t have a caution. He’s assured a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup where he will have a chance to compete for a championship when the NASCAR’s playoffs begin in three weeks. Took me a few months to win when I got into USAC. Here are my early picks to get you started, but check back again after qualifying for my final picks and fades.
On the final restart, both Elliott and Larson had older tires that the guys behind him and the 21 of Dave Blaney got into the back of the 24 auto nearly wrecking him, dropping the Hendrick rookie back to 3rd.
Elliott was the leader on that restart, which came with nine to go.
Brad Keselowski, who finished third in his No. 2 Penske Ford, was 25 when he first tasted victory and was among the first drivers to congratulate Larson. Martinsville has typically been a bad track for me, but we ran third there this year.
“Yeah, we used a little bit of fuel strategy”, he added. Next thing you know, we were off to the races. “He could have probably pulled underneath me and went by, but he stayed with me and got me the lead”. I also made a mistake early on in the race. “Kyle was able to drive away, which was kind of the tale of the tape there on the short runs”. Buescher’s engine was flat from the start of the race, and he had to nurse the No. 34 auto to the competition caution at lap 20 as he rode around in the back of the field. “I look forward to racing him and Chase and Ryan Blaney and all those guys for years to come”.
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“Yeah, I mean, with Matt, I could have done something to get by him”, said Larson. “I had spent two or three minutes screaming and running and I was pretty lightheaded. We parked it for him, so that’s really cool”. They’re all different personalities. “I’ve been so close here at Road America for a few years”. Though Chip Ganassi Racing is far from the strongest team in the garage area, it wasexpected that Larson would eventually make it to Victory Lane. “That’s a couple races in a row in just a few short months here at this place we had a really good auto, had an opportunity”, Elliott said. “I didn’t need to be passing out in victory lane”.
