Kyle Larson celebrates in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Kyle Larson continued his streak of superiority Sunday afternoon winning the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway – his third consecutive win, following three consecutive runner-up finishes. He hasn’t finished worse than second place in a NASCAR Cup Series race since May 2.
Meanwhile, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott was flagged as the 13th place finisher. But his No. 9 Chevrolet was found to have four loose lug nuts in post race technical inspection, leading the Dawsonville, Georgia native to be disqualified by NASCAR officials.
Elliott’s disqualification came after his car faded late after running in the lead pack most of the day.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Chad Knaus, Vice President of Competition for Hendrick Motorsports. “The lug nuts on the No. 9 were loose at the end of the race. At the end of the race Chase (Elliott) had a vibration. There were quite a few tire issues through the course of the day so they were hopeful that it was just a cord or something in the tire that was creating the vibration so they chose to run the race out. It’s unfortunate that the lug nuts vibrated loose on the left rear and now we are sitting here with a disqualification for the 9 team.”
While Elliott’s finish cost him valuable Playoff points, Larson’s winning roll for Hendrick Motorsports continues.
Larson’s win is a high performance mark the series hasn’t seen in more than a decade when former Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson won four straight points-paying races in 2007. Larson’s win Sunday was his third straight points-paying victory, but he also won the All-Star Race $1 million-to-win exhibition last week at Texas Motor Speedway.
Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led Ross Chastain across the Nashville finish line by 4.335-seconds. He paced the field by as much as 5 seconds in the closing 10 laps of this inaugural event. And that fourth winner’s trophy is a series best on the season.
There were 14 lead changes among seven drivers, but only two other drivers led double digit laps – Elliott (13) and Kyle Busch (10).
“It was a great day,” Larson said. “We never really had to run behind people, so I don’t know if one of my teammates got out front again, it probably would have been hard to pass them.
“This Valvoline Chevrolet was really good. It cut the middle of the corner really well and our pit crew did an awesome job again. I just hope we can keep it going.”
Larson led 264 of the 300 laps at the 1.333-mile Nashville track in the first NASCAR Cup Series race in the city since 1984. The effort marked the fourth time this season Larson’s led at least 200 laps in a race and the fifth time he’s led more than half the total laps in a race.
Only 17 races into the 36-race season, Larson has already eclipsed his previous season-best laps led. He’s been out front 1,426 laps. His previous season-best total was 1,352 laps led in 2017.
Larson, who now has 10 career NASCAR Cup Series wins, has led 82 percent of all laps run during this current three-race winning streak. Larson took the Stage 2 victory – his 12th of the season, which is double that of any other driver.
Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron looked to give the team its fifth straight 1-2 finish, rallying from the rear of the grid. He was running second until the final 10 laps when Chastain got around him. Byron finished third, followed by polesitter Aric Almirola and his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick.
The fourth-place finish was Almirola’s best of the season. Harvick’s fifth place run was his best in the last six races.
“We had a good car, just, my goodness, we don’t have anything for those Chevrolets right now,” said Almirola. “They’re making grip and they’re getting up off the corner. It’s so hard to race with them.
“But,” Almirola added, “We have made huge strides to close the gap. Our race team is doing a great job scrounging and scrapping to build better race cars and it’s nice to come here and run up front, run in the top 5 and at least be in the mix.”
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.
It marked Stenhouse’s second top 10 of the season and the third for Suarez.
NASCAR Cup Series championship points leader Denny Hamlin had to pit for fuel with two laps remaining, dropping from a top 10 result. He finished 22nd – the second time he’s finished outside the top 10 in the last six races and now holds a slim 6-point championship lead over Larson.
NASCAR Cup Series
Nashville Superspeedway – Nashville, TN
Ally 400 – June 20, 2021
1. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300.
2. (19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 300.
3. (4) William Byron, Chevrolet, 300.
4. (1) Aric Almirola, Ford, 300.
5. (12) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 300.
6. (14) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Chevrolet, 300.
7. (22) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 300.
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9. (25) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300.
10. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 300.
11. (2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 300.
12. (28) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 300.
13. (29) Ryan Newman, Ford, 300.
14. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 300.
15. (24) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 300.
16. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 300.
17. (18) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 300.
18. (26) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 300.
19. (9) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 300.
20. (21) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 299.
21. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 299.
22. (35) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 299.
23. (15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 299.
24. (11) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 298.
25. (36) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 298.
26. (34) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 298.
27. (32) J.J. Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 298.
28. (31) B.J. McLeod(i), Ford, 295.
29. (37) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 295.
30. (7) Cole Custer, Ford, 252.
31. (16) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, Accident, 227.
32. (20) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, Brakes, 197.
33. (33) Chad Finchum(i), Toyota, Rear End, 157.
34. (38) David Starr(i), Toyota, Brakes, 126.
35. (27) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 79.
36. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 77.
37. (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 53.
38. (39) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
DQ: (6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 113.792 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 23 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.335 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 60 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Almirola 0;K. Busch 1-5;K. Larson 6-45;K. Busch 46-48;A. Almirola 49;K. Busch 50-53;K. Larson 54-79;C. Elliott 80-92;K. Larson 93-137;K. Busch 138;K. Larson 139-176;C. Briscoe # 177-181;K. Larson 182-218;R. Chastain 219-222;K. Larson 223-300.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Kyle Larson 6 times for 264 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 13 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 10 laps; Chase Briscoe # 1 time for 5 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 4 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 3 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,5,99,18,3,47,2,22,21,11
Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,3,14,24,18,11,47,10,4,1
Playoff Standings: 1. Kyle Larson – 675 (4 Wins); 2. Martin Truex, Jr. – 541 (3 Wins); 3. Alex Bowman – 469 (2 Wins); 4. William Byron – 605 (1 Win); 5. Chase Elliott – 629 (1 Win); 5. 6. Joey Logano – 577 (1 Win); 7. Kyle Busch – 558 (1 Win); 8. Ryan Blaney – 510 (1 Win); 9. Brad Keselowski – 489 (1 Win); 10. Christopher Bell – 392 (1 Win); 11. Michael McDowell – 375 (1 Win); 12. Denny Hamlin – 684 (Points Leader); 13. Kevin Harvick – 516; 14. Austin Dillon – 475; 15. Tyler Reddick – 416; 16. Chris Buescher – 392.
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