Kyle Larson took his second win of the NASCAR Cup Series season and completed the sweep at Watkins Glen International.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity race, where he admitted he “got lucky” after beating out teammate William Byron and Ty Gibbs.
Similar to that race, Larson only led five laps Sunday and beat out teammate and Cup Series leader Chase Elliott on the restart to win the Go Bowling race.
Elliott started from the pole and led 29 laps. He clinched the Regular Season Championship after Stage 1. The Hendrick Motorsports driver earned 15 playoff points and the No. 1 seed for the 10-race playoffs.
“That was really my only opportunity (to go for the lead), I’m not proud of it,” Larson said after the race on his move to beat out Elliott for the lead with five laps to go, as transcribed by NASCAR. “But being in the inside lane, the right lane, being the leader, choosing the left lane, it definitely wins out. But when it gets late in the race, it’s definitely risky.
“I knew that was my only opportunity to get by him. I feel like our cars were pretty equal today. Had a lot of fun after the green-flag cycle trying to chase him down. Kind of burned my stuff up a little bit.
“But the restarts kept me in it and kept our team in it. I’m proud of my guys. Good to get another win here at Watkins Glen and get some more bonus points going into the Playoffs, we haven’t had a lot here this year.”
The finish was, obviously, a frustrating one for Elliott, who finished fourth. To his credit, Elliott congratulated his Hendrick Motorsports teammate on the win.
“We have a competition meeting tomorrow,” Larson said. “I think if I was in his shoes, I would understand the risk that I’m taking, taking the left lane also. I’m not proud of it, but I did what I felt like I had to do to get the win.”
The race also saw Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen make his Cup Series debut. Despite the crash at Lap 45, the Finnish driver had fun with the experience.
One event remains in the Cup Series’ 26-race regular season. The 16-driver postseason field will be locked in after the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the regular-season finale scheduled Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
