Kyle Larson Takes One for the Team, Delivers NASCAR Cup Win at Homestead

• Kyle Larson led six times for 199 of the 267 laps of the 1.5-mile track to win the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

• Larson’s 19th career victory seemed a foregone conclusion for most of the picture-perfect afternoon.

• After being eliminated in the Round of 12 by one point in the Playoffs, Larson set his sights on giving his boss another trophy.

Kyle Larson isn’t eligible to repeat as NASCAR’s Cup Series champion, but he’s dead-set on helping Hendrick Motorsports win the owners’ championship in the Nov. 6 season-finale at Phoenix Raceway.

He guaranteed that team owner Rick Hendrick will be represented in the Championship 4 by utterly dominating Sunday afternoon’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In Hendrick’s No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro, the reigning Cup champion—but not a Playoff driver—led six times for 199 of the 267 laps of the 1.5-mile track a tough half-hour south of Miami.

Larson’s 19th career victory seemed a foregone conclusion for most of the picture-perfect afternoon. After starting fifth, he “won” the first and second stages, and led in segments of 6, 50, 34, 87, and the final 22 laps. His only concern—in this case, “concern” is a relative term—came late, when he had to drive aggressively and hard to hold off Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain after a late caution set up a sprint to the end.

After being eliminated by one point after the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, Larson set his sights on giving his boss another trophy.

“If we were to win at Phoenix, my name isn’t going to be on the drivers’ championship (trophy), but having our team on the owners’ champion is honestly better,” Larson said. “If I was to have it one way or the other, I would rather be out on my end and be able to celebrate the team championship.

"I’m happy we get to go compete for that again, and honestly that’s the paycheck, too. We’re going to go for that, and we’re fired up about it. I was disappointed and embarrassed at missing on the drivers’ championship, but winning the owners’ championship is something I’m excited about.”

There will be discussions and debates about a late-race pit road incident between Larson and Martin Truex Jr. under the last caution. As he came in ahead of Larson for service, Truex Jr. (by his own admission) turned later than usual into his box. Trailing close behind, waiting to turn in next, Larson rear-ended Truex Jr. and sent him around. By the time both returned to the track, Larson was back in front and Truex Jr. was restarting back in the mid-teens.

“It was definitely a little bit of both (his late turn and Larson’s contact),” Truex Jr. said afterward. “It was really hard to see through these windshields with the sun and all the stuff covering it. For sure, I saw my box late and I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5. Obviously, partly on me. I didn’t expect to get turned around.”

Larson accepted that he played a role. “I was going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time,” he said. “I ran right in the back of him. My team said he was late turning into his stall. If it was my fault, I’m sorry. I don't think it was; it’s hard to see down this pit road. It’s hard to see your stall when you have debris on your windshield and the sun is shining straight in your face.”

Once Larson got into clean air after the final restart with 17 laps to go, he gradually pulled away to outdistance Playoff driver Chastain, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski, Truex Jr., Playoff driver Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, and Daniel Suarez. Of that group, only Chastain and Hamlin are Round of 8 candidates to win the championship in two weeks.

Championship Picture Now

After winning last weekend at Las Vegas to ensure a spot in the Championship 4, former champion Joey Logano finished an uninspiring 18th on Sunday. Likewise, 2020 champion Chase Elliott had another hum-drum race – he never led or ran up front in finishing 14th. As for the other Championship 4 hopefuls outside the top-10: Chase Briscoe finish a dead-last 36th, Ryan Blaney finished 17th, pole-winner William Byron finished 12th, and Christopher Bell finish 11th.

Points-leader Logano goes to Martinsville as the only driver among the final eight assured of being in the Championship 4. With Logano already in, the other seven Playoff drivers will race for the three remaining spots.

Chastain is a virtual lead-pipe cinch to advance by points—he’s 19 above the cutline—even if he doesn’t win at Martinsville. Elliott can’t breathe easy, but he’s 11 points above the cutline and in fairly safe territory. Byron is a too-close-for-comfort five points above the cutline for being among the Championship 4.

Hamlin is five points below the cutline, but his record at Martinsville -- five victories, 16 top-5s, and 22 top-10s in 33 starts – means he’ll likely leave there in the Championship 4. The same can’t be said of winless Blaney (18 points below the line), Christopher Bell (33 below the line), or Chase Briscoe, a win-or-go home 44 points below the line.

Two other Playoff races were contested over the weekend at Homestead:

Camping World Truck Series Update

Ty Majeski won Saturday afternoon’s Baptist Health Cancer Center 200 for the Camping World Truck Series as Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, and Ben Rhodes advanced into the Championship 4 finale near Phoenix on Nov. 4. Majeski had qualified by winning at Bristol, but Homestead stamped him a championship favorite.

He led twice for a race-high 67 laps around the 1.5-mile track, including the final 33. He finished ahead of Zane Smith, Stewart Friesen, pole-winner Ryan Preece, and Corey Heim. The trio of Majeski (67), Ben Rhodes (37), and Zane Smith (26) led all but four of the 137 laps.

Majeski, the unrelated Smiths, and Friesen will race for the Truck Series championship near Phoenix on Nov. 5. Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, John Hunter Nemechek, and Friesen were the four Playoff drivers eliminated at Homestead.

And in the Xfinity Series...

Chevrolet-driving Noah Gragson advanced to the Championship 4 of the Xfinity Series Playoffs with a dominating victory in the Contender Boats 300. The JR Motorsports star led six times for 127 of the 200 laps, including the final 56 laps and 72 of the final 76, and “won” the first and second stages.

His eighth victory this season came ahead of Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, and Sam Mayer. Pole-winner Trevor Bayne led 46 laps in finishing sixth and Austin Hill led 19 in finishing ninth. Nobody else led more than three laps.

Even with next weekend’s race at Martinsville remaining in the Round of 8, Saturday’s impressive victory advanced Gragson to the Nov. 5 championship race at Phoenix Raceway. He’ll be joined there by JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry, who won last weekend’s Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Gragson goes into Martinsville as the leader over Gibbs (-31 points), Allmendinger (-56), and Justin Allgaier (61), the last driver above the cutline to make the Championship 4 on points. Hill is two below the line, Berry is 13 below (but eligible because of his Las Vegas victory), Mayer is 23 below, and Brandon Jones is 33 below the line.

Cup Series Results

NASCAR Cup Series Race - 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400

Homestead-Miami Speedway

Sunday, October 23, 2022

1. (5) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.

2. (20) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 267.

3. (10) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 267.

4. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

5. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.

6. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.

7. (14) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.

8. (16) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267.

9. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267.

10. (23) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.

11. (2) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.

12. (1) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.

13. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.

14. (3) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.

15. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.

16. (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.

17. (13) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.

18. (17) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.

19. (26) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 267.

20. (21) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 267.

21. (28) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267.

22. (6) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 267.

23. (31) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 267.

24. (25) Cole Custer, Ford, 266.

25. (24) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 266.

26. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.

27. (4) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 266.

28. (15) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266.

29. (33) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 266.

30. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 264.

31. (29) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 264.

32. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 263.

33. (35) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 262.

34. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 262.

35. (7) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 242.

36. (19) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, Accident, 160.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.612 mph.

Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 5 Mins, 24 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.261 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 5 for 30 laps.

Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders: W. Byron (P) 1-26;K. Larson (P) 27-32;W. Byron (P) 33-37;K. Larson (P) 38-87;W. Byron (P) 88;K. Larson (P) 89-122;C. Bell (P) 123-126;K. Larson (P) 127-213;M. Truex Jr. 214-216;D. Hamlin (P) 217-220;M. Truex Jr. 221-245;K. Larson (P) 246-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson (P) 5 times for 199 laps; William Byron (P) 3 times for 32 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 28 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 1 time for 4 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 4 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,24,19,8,3,16,6,9,12,22

Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,19,24,12,6,9,99,1,22,11