The latest NASCAR Cup race at Richmond was full of excitement, as the battle for victory was sparked into life after Noah Gragson slammed into the outside wall, forcing the sixth caution of the race. This saw all the lead-lap cars pit, with Martin Truex Jr retaining the lead off pit road.
As the race progressed, with 55 laps to go, several cars started making what they hoped would be their final pitstops. William Byron was the first frontrunner to do so, followed soon after by race leader Truex, who pitted with 48 laps to go.
However, Berry, Michael McDowell, and Todd Gilliland committed to the no-stop strategy to the finish, hoping to gain an advantage over their competitors.
With only 33 laps to go, Byron took the lead from his teammate Berry, just as the battle for the race lead started heating up. But just as the excitement was building, a caution flew for a spinning Tyler Reddick. This gave Larson the opportunity to make a late pitstop, and he led Berry out of the pits from Truex and Byron.
However, on the restart, Christopher Bell pitched Byron into a spin, while Truex struggled on scuffed tires and tumbled down the order. The Hendrick duo of Larson and Berry got away, with Ross Chastain moving up into third place. Nobody could catch Larson, who took victory by 1.5 seconds from his teammate Berry, who was standing in for the injured Chase Elliott.
This victory was Larson’s 20th in the NASCAR Cup career and his first of the 2023 season. Larson became the sixth different winner in the first seven races, earning the Hendrick squad its third win of the year.
Reflecting on his win, Larson praised his pit crew and acknowledged the strong competition he faced throughout the race. “It’s really cool,” he said. “We’ve been close to winning a couple. William [Byron] has been extremely good this year. It was going to be between probably him, the #19 [Truex], us, and the #20 [Bell] was really good. So just things worked out.”
Chastain held on to third at the finish ahead of Bell and Kevin Harvick, with McDowell taking his best result of the season in sixth place. Defending NASCAR champion Joey Logano got home in seventh, in front of points leader Alex Bowman, as Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski completed the top 10. Meanwhile, stage-one winner Byron was unable to recover from his late spin and came home in 24th place.
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NASCAR, Racing, Hendrick Motosports, Sport, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Richmond Raceway, Nascar Cup Series
