'It was a fight': Driving a Kyle Busch tribute car, Kyle Larson finishes runner-up at Las Vegas

Larson and Reddick held on to finish second and third, respectively, though it's safe to say neither one's organization will be happy about having two torn up race cars. 

Kyle Larson details his day

"It was a fight," Larson said of his day, speaking to USA Network. "Surprised at how far off we were that first run, was just doing all I could to hang on and get to the pit stop. [Crew chief Cliff Daniels] said it was going to be a lengthy adjustment, I didn't know it was going to be that long. 

"Then we came out a lap down. I think that, thankfully, that [debris caution on Lap 93] came out where we were able to do the wave [around]. I think that really saved us from being stuck a lap down a lot longer."

Whatever handling issues Larson's car had early in the race were clearly remedied during its second half. 

"My car got better," Larson said. "Just kind of chipped away at it all race long. Had a good green flag pit cycle, could tell I was gaining on [Briscoe] pretty quickly. My tires were getting kinda burnt off by the time I got there. Tried to do what I could to try to win... was trying to push to 3 and 4 to build some momentum at him. Just got really loose and overcorrected into the wall.

"That got exciting. Wish we could've won in this paint scheme and honoring Kyle, because that would've been very Kyle Busch fashion. Great fight again by our team."

With five races left in the season, Larson is in the cat bird's seat for a third championship, though the battle between he, Hamlin and Christopher Bell certainly isn't over. 

Larson may have a rough time going to sleep on Sunday, however, knowing that a different move that would've won him the race could've given him a 60-point lead over Hamlin going into the Oct. 11 race at Charlotte.