Larson wins at The Roval, leads all 4 Hendrick cars into next round of NASCAR playoffs

By Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. — When rain disrupted Kyle Larson’s bid to complete both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day — leaving him unable to turn a single lap at Charlotte Motor Speedway — he returned to the track determined to put on a show.

“I don’t want to say it’s a chip, but I think the fact that he didn’t get to race here and Indy didn’t turn out too good, that was the extra motivation,” team owner Rick Hendrick said.

Larson raced to his Cup Series-high sixth victory of the season Sunday to easily advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs, winning on The Roval — the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He led all four of Hendrick Motorsports drivers into the round of eight.

“I think after some of the comments he made after the Indy-Charlotte experience, he did put a lot of weight on his shoulders, almost feeling like he let his team and fanbase down,” crew chief Cliff Daniels said. “I don’t necessarily think that was fair for him to put on his shoulders, but I know that he did. He’s putting in the work, the intensity, and the determination to be as strong as everybody.”

Larson led a race-high 62 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet to win in a runaway. He beat longtime rival and title contender Christopher Bell by 1.511 seconds.

“It was good to have a little bit of a stress-free weekend,” said Larson, who was taking his family to Cabo for a quick getaway before the third round of the playoffs begin next weekend in Las Vegas.

He noted he went to Paris in the middle of the season, Italy during the Olympic break, and typically wins a race before a vacation.

“I think every vacation I’ve taken this year, I think I’ve won the race leading into it,” Larson said. “So I should start taking vacation every week. I shouldn’t have to argue. I shouldn’t have to prove a point. It’s my life and we perform at a high level, so whatever.”

It was Larson’s second victory of the playoffs, but he’s the first championship-eligible driver to win in the round of 12. The elimination race cut the field from 12 drivers to eight, and those knocked out of title contention were the Team Penske drivers of Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing and Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing.

All four Hendrick drivers — Larson, William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott — advanced into the round of eight.

“I’m so proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports to have four of the last eight standing,” Elliott said. “I think it is an extremely amazing statement.”

Joining them for the next three-race series are reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney of Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Bell in Toyotas, and Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion who squeezed through in a Toyota for 23XI Racing.

There is only one Ford driver still eligible for the Cup title in Blaney.

Bell finished second and was followed by Byron, Cindric, Elliott, defending race winner AJ Allmendinger and Shane Van Gisbergen. Logano was eighth, while Bubba Wallace and Blaney rounded out the top 10.

Reddick won the first stage but was involved in a spin with Austin Dillon in the second stage that dropped him to 37th in position and below the cutline. He had to scramble the rest of the race to finish 11th and preserve his spot in the playoffs.

Michael Jordan, Hamlin’s business partner in ownership of 23XI Racing, embraced both Hamlin and Reddick on pit lane after they advanced.

Logano, meanwhile, finished eighth and was eliminated by four points from advancing to the next round. Two of three Penske cars being eliminated came a day after Team Penske won the IMSA sports car championship at Road Atlanta.

First driver eliminated

Briscoe was eliminated when he went to the garage with 66 laps remaining with mechanical damage that officially ended Stewart-Haas Racing’s shot at a championship. The team is scaling back from four cars to one next year without Tony Stewart as part of the ownership group and Briscoe will drive for Gibbs in 2025.

“I wish we were racing for a championship still. It stings,” Briscoe said. “Not even really for myself, just all the employees at Stewart-Haas. They were all kind of living through the 14 car, and the environment we have had these last few weeks has been really exciting to be a part of.

“I hate that it is coming to an end. I know what that means for Stewart-Haas not to be racing for a championship anymore. That was keeping a lot of people, honestly, in the building.”

Vance stops by NASCAR race

The race was attended by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, who was accompanied by Donald Trump Jr. in both the pre-race driver meeting and on the starting grid. Former President Donald Trump attended the Coca-Cola 600 at the same track in May.

Turtles changed

NASCAR announced another course change ahead of the race Sunday race when Charlotte officials replaced the 4-inch “turtles” on the track with 2.25-inch curbing.

The smaller curbing should help lessen the impact Cup Series drivers feel when going over the speed bump with the car bottoming out when it lands.

Some drivers complained Saturday after practice and qualifying that the impact after their car launched over the turtle was too hard, with Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch said they felt like they suffered a concussion when the car landed.

Up next

NASCAR opens the third round of the playoffs Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Larson is not only the defending race winner but also won in the spring.

AP auto racing: apnews.com/hub/auto-racing