LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson dominated the NASCAR Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a second straight time in the Cup Series.
Larson won for the third time in his career at Las Vegas, where in 2021 he got his first win driving for Hendrick following a nearly yearlong suspension in 2020. Larson also won in the No. 5 Chevy at Las Vegas last October in the playoffs.
Larson held off Tyler Reddick for his 24th career Cup victory. In a Toyota for 23XI Racing, Reddick chased Larson for the final several laps but could never find enough room to make a move for the pass. Larson’s margin of victory was 0.441 seconds over Reddick.
“I knew Tyler was going to be the guy to beat from the first stage. He was really fast there,” Larson said according to AP.
“Cool to get a win here at Vegas again. Back-to-back, swept all the stages again. Can´t ask for more than that.”
Reddick was extremely frustrated after finishing second and believed Larson as the leader controlled the race because of the rules of NASCAR’s new car.
“Kyle did a really good job there taking away pretty much every option I had there to close the gap,” Reddick said.
“Second sucks, that is for sure. You have to run up front all day long, and when asked about what we need to do to get better, that´s the very thing, and we didn´t do it. We were pretty evenly matched, so I don´t know if there was anything that I really could´ve done to get around him.
“He would have had to make a big mistake or had some traffic kind of knock his wind around. It´s a solid effort for our team, that´s how we need to run, but I don´t like running second.”
Chevrolet also has wins this year by Byron in the Daytona 500 and Daniel Suarez last week at Atlanta for Trackhouse Racing. Chevrolet has won eight of nine national series races to open the year.
Ford and Toyota are both using new cars this year.
The Chevrolet contingent right now is as tight as it´s ever been, and the key partner groups and even outside of that are working really good together because we know we have very little margin here,” said Hendrick team president and general manager Jeff Andrews.
“We know we´re up against a new car with Ford and Toyota. We have to do our best to work together and keep advancing this car.
“We´re obviously early on in the season here, a lot of racing to go, and they will get there. Anytime that you change a platform on those cars as much as they´ve had, it´s going to take a little bit of time.”
Reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney was third for Team Penske in a Ford, followed by Trackhouse driver Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and Las Vegas native Noah Gragson was sixth in his best finish since joining Stewart-Haas Racing.
Martin Truex Jr. for JGR was seventh, followed by teammate Denny Hamlin, Penske driver and pole-sitter Joey Logano and Byron. Suarez, last week’s winner, was 11th.
Larson swept all three stages and led 181 of the 267 laps. The win made Larson the Cup Series points leader with an eight-point cushion over Blaney.
Double MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia will stay with the Ducati factory team until 2026 after signing a contract extension, the Italian manufacturer said.
Bagnaia won his first title in the top category of motorcycle racing in 2022 and the 27-year-old Italian secured his second last season.
He has 18 wins to date and 35 podiums, 18 pole positions and 13 fastest laps.
“I am so happy to continue racing with the team of my dreams,” Bagnaia said in a Ducati statement. “Wearing these colours is an honour for me. It’s fantastic and a source of pride.”
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