Kyle Larson Once Again Showcases His Dominance at Kansas

Larson led the field to green alongside Chris Buescher, whom he famously beat in the closest finish ever just last season in this same race. Things got going quickly and often at one of the more exciting tracks in the sport.

The fast-paced action was going to make or break plenty of drivers by the end of the race. Not to mention how crazy restarts at Kansas can get. Things went up in smoke for AJ Allmendinger quickly, as he blew an engine six laps into the 267-lap event.

He was certainly not thrilled on the radio, as he seemed to vent his frustration with the RCR/ECR engine shop , which supplies his team with Engines. After the clean-up from Allmendinger’s engine fluid, the field got back to green, and the next 71 laps went caution-free. It was during that time that Larson continued to lead the race, while Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott started to show that he might have something for the No. 5 team.

While Larson and Elliott were having a great day, William Byron, meanwhile, was having far from a good day. He cut a tire during the opening stage, but was lucky enough to get to pit road without a caution. His only problem was that it put him down a couple of laps, and he was never in contention the rest of the race.

Problems for Top Contenders Start to Take Shape

Denny Hamlin was quietly putting himself into the picture during the race. But much like Texas, a mechanical issue once again arose for his No. 11 car. After Larson won the opening stage, and Hamlin was able to finish seventh in the stage, showing some speed, he began to develop an issue with his clutch.

Those clutch issues were only going to make the day harder for Hamlin. He wasn’t the only contender who had something befall them throughout the race. Larson was the best car, but the long runs and tire conserving were making opportunities for his rivals during the race. Elliott started to show that he had a car that could compete with an even possibly run Larson down, especially throughout the second stage.

Not to be outshone, Christopher Bell also put his number 20 car into the conversation.

During the green flag pit stops of stage two, Hamlin lost seven spots because of his clutch problems. As they cycled back around, Larson’s over five-second lead dropped significantly as Elliott caught him with less than eight to go in the stage. Despite the strong drive from Elliott to the end of the stage, Larson edged him out by a few feet.

It was around that time that Larson also eclipsed 10,000 career laps led. An impressive feat to say the least, as he is one of only three active-full time cup drivers with more than that amount, joining Kyle Busch and Hamlin.

Larson Takes Advantage of Mistakes for Challengers

Heading into the final stage, Elliott was able to beat Larson off the pit lane for the race lead. He fought off Larson on the restart and pulled away. Leading the races next 27 laps.

It was by that time that Brad Keselowski had put his car into the hunt. That quickly went sour as Keselowski cut a tire as he was trying to chase Elliott down. He clobbered the outside wall, bringing out the yellow.

The pit stops that followed saw even more problems for drivers. Elliott lost the lead and all his track position because of an issue on the right rear. That wrecked what may have been a golden opportunity for Chase to get to victory lane.

It was also during the stop that Hamlin’s clutch issue finally ended his day, as he overrevved his engine trying to get out of his box. It was becoming very clear that Larson’s biggest competition in Kansas was all having costly mistakes and issues.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet, though, as the restarts started to come more and more. Crazy restarts at Kansas are just bound to breed cautions.

Clean Restarts Boost the No. 5 to Victory

The first big incident saw Cody Ware, Daniel Suarez, and Ty Dillon crash into the wall. Just to stack the field back up and try again.

That didn’t last long as other incidents occurred. One saw Kyle Busch get hit and sent around after being in a four-wide fight for position.

That brought the field right back together, just for a massive incident to occur on the very next restart that knocked Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, and Justin Haley out of the race. How quickly the race was turning sour.

Once they got that incident cleaned up, things seemed to fall into clean order as the final run to the finish ended up being 49 laps. Though he had stiff competition like Bell and Bowman, and Ryan Blaney trying to run him down, Larson led the final 55 laps of the race.

Things got a little shaky coming to the checkered flag, as it appeared that Larson may have had a tire going down. There wasn’t enough time for Bell or Blaney to pass him by that time, however.

Larson scored career win #32 with ease. Leading 221 of the 267 laps didn’t hurt either.

The month of May is off to a hot start for Kyle Larson.