Kyle Larson took advantage of an overtime battle for the lead between Shane van Gisbergen and Austin Hill, cutting up the inside to pass both drivers with less than half a lap to go in the Focused Health 250.
With fresh tires on his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, the Cup Series regular collected his 15th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory by a 1.215-second margin during double overtime at Circuit of the Americas. It was also the first win for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 17 car.
“It feels really special. I feel like every time we’ve ran this No. 17 car, whether it be any of us four drivers, we’re always the fastest on the track and then we somehow give it away. Today, I was definitely not the fastest, but we were patient,” Larson said in his Fox Sports interview.
Larson only led one lap during the race, but it was the one that mattered most — the final one.
Though he posted the fastest qualifying speed on Friday, Larson started from the rear of the Xfinity Series field, as his Hendrick Motorsports crew replaced a cracked brake rotor on the No. 17 prior to the start of the race.
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After crossing the finish line second, van Gisbergen was hit with a 30-second penalty for cutting the track on the last lap. That pushed the No. 97 Kaulig Racing driver to finish an unofficial 27th, despite his impressive performance at the 3.41-mile road course.
Van Gisbergen led 20 of 50 total laps.
“That last restart, (Hill) just drove through me in (turn) one. I guess that’s how it was here. I just stood up for myself,” van Gisbergen said during his post-race Fox Sports interview, referring to the moment he pushed Hill wide to re-take the lead. “Awesome racing…at the end it just turned into a mess.”
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In light of the No. 97’s penalty, Hill scored second in the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry. John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Parker Kligerman were in tow to complete the official top five. Series rookie Jesse Love was sixth, while Austin Green scored seventh in his Xfinity Series debut.
Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and A.J. Allmendinger also finished inside the top 10.