Larson Ends 51 Race Winless Drought, Wins at Gateway!
MADISON, I.L. - The long wait for Kyle Larson is finally over as the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion finally found victory lane after going winless for 51 races. Larson ended a drought that tracked back to Kansas Speedway in the spring of the 2025 season. The last stretch of races for Larson had been very strong, and it was only a matter of time he would find victory lane. With the win Larson finds himself tight in the championship hunt!
WHAT HAPPENED:
The best way to describe the race was simply survival. Similar to Darlington, the story of the battle for the lead developed throughout the day, but the main difference was there wasn't a ton of green flag racing to allow the progression to be natural?
How many cautions were there exactly? Well, going into the weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series track record at World Wide Technology Raceway was 12. After 300 miles, plus a near eight-mile extension into overtime, the race saw 18 cautions over the stretch of 247 laps.
With the cautions strategy was mixed up, and fuel windows played a big factor in decision making for track position.
The car to beat throughout the day was Joey Logano, as he dominated the way early winning stage one. Logano would be the class of the field more most of stage two as well, but strategy due to the surplus of cautions had him have to claw his way back to the point.
Kyle Larson held on to win stage two, owning a decent lead due to strategy as the stage ended with nine laps to go after Zane Smith lost his brakes, causing a brutal hit to the outside wall. Smith was not the last one to have brake rotor issues however, in fact, he was far from the last.
Over the remainder of the race Ryan Blaney, Noah Gragson, Chase Elliott, and Chris Buescher all had brake rotor failures.
These failures would lead to restart chaos where the field constantly found trouble as things went four wide. As a result, there were numerous multi car accidents and a theme of big issues for Chase drivers. In fact it would be easier to tell you which Chase driver's day went incident free as there weren't many.
In stage three it was Joey Logano putting all the stops together and seemingly on his way to his tird win of the season. That changed though on lap 228. With Larson restarting to his inside with four tires to Logano's two, he put together an excellent set of corners to power to the lead.
Despite having to control a few restarts, Larson was poised and never contested, easily holding on to secure the victory.
OTHER NOTES:
Outside of Chase Elliotts misfortune, it was a feel good day for Hendrick Motorsports. Along with Larson's win Alex Bowman finished 2nd and William Byron, off of Darlington dissapointment finished 4th.
For Bowman the finish was meaningful as on Friday he announced the passing of his best friend and dog Finn. Before the race, Bowman was emotional and in tears and raced through them most of the day. Despite that, Bowman overcame another case of adversity, and leaves a place he struggled at with purpose. as he earned his first top ten finish at the facility.
Only three Chase drivers outscored Denny Hamlin despite the #11 finishing 9th. Only six Chasers finished in the top ten. Denny Hamlin's point lead over Kyle Larson leaving Gateway is just nine points.
Lastly, it was great days for other non-Chaser's beyond Alex Bowman, as Ross Chastain earned 5th, Austin Dillon 6th, and Connor Zilisch matched a career best 7th.
UP NEXT:
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for the third race of the Chase. Kyle Larson looks to carry his momentum and steal the points lead, as it is one of his best tracks. Coverage of the race can be found on USA and PRN, with the green flag slated for 7:30 P.M. ET on Saturday, September 19.
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