Kyle Larson, who by all accounts is one of the most dominant drivers in motorsports today, showed his prowess yet again today at Watkins Glen International.
The 30-year-old, Elk Grove, California native never fails to impress as Saturday saw him go head to head with XFINITY Series points leader AJ Allmendinger. Larson stated “I got lucky.” In front of the frontstretch crowd and the audience watching on the USA Network.
Granted, it appears that it was more than luck, as skill played the biggest factor as he was running third with five laps to go when Hendrick teammate William Byron and JGR driver Ty Gibbs collided in the bust stop while going back and forth for the lead.
William Byron, who also set a track record in qualifying earlier in the afternoon, led a race-high 36 of 82 laps, and Gibbs who led the second most in 25.
“The seas parted and I was able to get through but then I had AJ behind me so just trying to hit my marks best I could. He definitely made me nervous with me being out in front of him.” Larson commented.
Allmendinger’s 2nd place effort, combined with Gibbs’ rough day and an early exit by Justin Allgaier – who wrecked only four laps into the race – really boosted his lead in the Xfinity Series standings. With four races remaining to set the 12-driver 2022 Playoff field, he now holds a 61-point advantage over Gibbs and is 70-points up on Allgaier.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action next Friday night at Daytona International Speedway with the WaWa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Kaulig Racing’s Justin Haley is the defending race winner.