NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — On a historic Sunday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Kyle Larson was untouchable.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver held an undeniable edge over his competition, bringing his No. 5 Chevrolet across the finish line 4.537 seconds ahead of 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace. Of all things, it wasn’t the finish Larson was expecting.
“Yes, I ran the fast lap in practice, but if you look at the 30-lap average, I was like second to last. We were really bad on Friday. Saturday, we were really bad in the heat race, as well. I was super loose in the heat race, like loose everywhere, no grip,” Larson recalled. “So, I had not great expectations for tonight. I just didn’t think there was enough that they could do to make me better.”
Regardless of the low expectations, Larson rose to the occasion, leading 145 of 200 laps.Â
“Just cool to dominate like that, and to do it kind of like how you saw people dominate races back in the ’80s and ’90s,” Larson said.
It was Larson’s third All-Star Race victory, adding him to a short list of three-time winners that includes Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt. It was also the third race track he’s scored the $1 million winner’s check at — others were Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in 2019 and Texas Motor Speedway in 2021.
Larson also won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, held on Saturday afternoon.
Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott completed the top five.Â
How It Happened
The 24-car field was led to the green flag by Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher.
Suarez took the early lead, with third-place starter Joey Logano filing into second behind him. Buescher was freight trained, unable to drop into the preferred bottom groove, and dropped out of the top 10. Â Â Â
Hamlin, who started ninth, had moved up to second by lap 14. Â
The first caution came out on lap 16, as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. shoved his way into the bottom groove and made contact with Erik Jones’ No. 43 Legacy Motor Club entry. The contact caused Stenhouse Jr. to spin in his No. 47 Chevrolet.
On the restart, it was Suarez leading.
Briscoe attempted to use the outside groove to move around Hamlin for second, but Hamlin and Logano held the inside and pushed the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing entry back to fourth. After taking new tires during the caution, Larson was finding his pace on the .625-mile track and was up to sixth by lap 42 after starting 16th.
He was also dealt a speeding penalty on pit road and was accordingly sent to the rear of the field on the restart.
The No. 5 Chevrolet took third away from Logano on lap 51, riding the apron through the exit of turn four. Larson swept two positions on lap 55, again using the low line to move past Hamlin and the No. 99 of Suarez. Logano passed the No. 11 for third on lap 59.
Reddick: ‘I Should’ve Been More Aggressive’
Several drivers made green-flag pit stops, including Byron, Kyle Busch, Wallace and Reddick.
Larson was minding the gap — and his tires — as the race approached the 100-lap mark. He had built over a 10-second lead, amount to about half the track distance, by lap 88. Wallace put his fresh tires and No. 23 Toyota to work, moving past Logano to take third on lap 92 and past Suarez for second on lap 95.
The caution flag flew for the competition break at the end of lap 100.
The top five included Larson, Wallace, Suarez, Logano and Briscoe. Sixteen of 24 cars were on the lead lap. Christopher Bell and Logano were sent to the rear for uncontrolled tires in their pit stops, while Ross Chastain was sent to the rear for a speeding penalty.
On the restart, with 90 laps to go, Larson again swooped into the lead.
As the field jostled for position, it was Wallace, Reddick, Suarez and Briscoe who fell into line behind the No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet. Buescher fought his way back into the top five with 79 to go, shoving Briscoe out of the way and into the outside groove, costing the No. 14 several positions in the process.
Larson maintained over a three-second gap over Wallace.
With 47 laps to go, it was the No. 5 leading the No. 23, No. 45, No. 99 and No. 17.
Briscoe found a burst of energy with 31 laps to go, overtaking Elliott and Suarez to settle in fourth, but was unable to continue forward. Suarez fell to seventh with 12 to go.
No one had anything for Larson, who earned his second win of the weekend and took home the $1 million winner’s check.