In just his fourth start since most of the 2020 Cup Series season was suspended, Larson took control of a wild race on Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and crossed to victory on the Pennzoil 400.
Larson, 28, was fired from his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team last April for using a racial slur while broadcasting an iRacing event and was also indefinitely suspended by NASCAR at the time.
He was hired by Hendrick Motorsports to drive his Chevrolet # 5 last October, starting with the 2021 season, and was released to return to NASCAR racing activities from January 1.
At the end of the race, Larson had defeated Denny Hamlin for the lead and almost spoiled when he lost entrance to the pit road during his green flag pit stop.
Larson’s Chevrolet No. 5 was so fast that it still came out with an advantage of more than 1.5 seconds after the stops and without further flags of caution, he overcame Brad Keselowski for another 3.5 seconds at the end.
“It was a lot of fun to drive. I could go wherever I wanted. Preparation at the start of the races was difficult, ”said Larson. “Thank you very much, Mr. H (Rick Hendrick, owner of the team), Jeff Gordon and Hendrick Motorsports for the incredible opportunity I received. This is definitely special.
“I know this is Rick’s most special painting scheme for obvious reasons and it’s just an honor to grab (the victory) our first time. I am simply blessed. Thank you all for coming and everyone watching on TV.
“It was fun to run on reboots. I hope you all enjoyed it, I know I did. I had fun competing with Brad and Denny and everyone. I tried not to get in the way when I missed my stop with the green flag, but we managed to get a car good enough to hold them. ”
The victory is Larson’s first since the 2019 season, the seventh of his career in the Cup Series and the first on a 1.5-mile intermediate track. Larson was considered the favorite to win the first dirt race in the World Cup series in more than 50 years later this month in Bristol, Tenn.
Larson’s chief of staff, Cliff Daniels, who won his first career victory, said: “It feels incredible. God is so good. It has been a great journey for this team for several reasons.
“I owe a lot to Jimmie (Johnson) and a lot to Chad (Knaus) for what they did. Kyle had a great race, the team was out on the pit lane. Much obliged. ”
Kyle Busch finished third, Hamlin fourth and Ryan Blaney completed the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Truex, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Joey Logano and Erik Jones.
Stage 3
After the interval between phases 2 and 3, all cars from the first lap go to the pit, with Larson on the first off-pit road.
At the restart on lap 168, Larson was followed by Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Truex and Bell.
Chase Elliott spun on the rear straight and scored Kurt Busch in the process to bring a warning on lap 170. Hamlin had just completed a pass from Larson to retake the lead.
Hamlin stayed ahead in the restart on lap 175, followed by Larson, Truex and Kyle Busch.
Aric Almirola marked the wall at turn 2 on lap 179, which threw debris on the track and forced another caution.
Several cars back in front go into the pits under caution, but Hamlin remained out and remained the leader. When the race returned to the green on lap 185, Hamlin was followed by Truex, Blaney and Byron.
Truex ran over Hamlin after the restart and took the lead for the first time in the race at the start of lap 186.
In five laps, Larson – who bet on new tires in the previous precaution – managed to move from 17th to sixth position. He entered the top five on lap 191.
Hamlin went inside Truex on turn 4 on lap 192 to retake the lead. Larson took second on lap 195.
After chasing his rear bumper for several laps, Larson finally bypassed Hamlin to retake the lead on lap 206.
With 50 laps left for the race, Larson opened a 1.4 second lead over Keselowski. Hamlin was third, Blaney fourth and Truex fifth.
On lap 221, several cars from the first lap started a final round of green flag pit stops to pick up new tires and fuel to reach the end of the race.
Larson lost his entrance to the pit road the first time and came around to make his stop.
Once the stop cycle was completed on lap 238, Larson maintained a 1.5 second lead over Keselowski, followed by Hamlin, Truex and Kyle Busch.
With 25 laps left, Larson built a 1.8-second lead over Keselowski. Hamlin was third, Kyle Busch fourth and Truex completed the top five.
With 10 laps to go, Larson’s lead over Keselowski remained stable at around 2.5 seconds. Kyle Busch moved up to third place.
Stage 2
Larson took the lead before a final round of green flag pit stops and expanded his advantage, winning the Stage 2 victory over Keselowski.
Hamlin was third, Byron fourth and Blaney completed the top five.
After the interval between stages 1 and 2, all cars from the first lap go to the pit, with Hamlin being the first off pit road. Tyler Reddick was penalized for speeding on the pit road and had to restart the race at the back of the field.
The race returned to the green on lap 88 with Hamlin in the lead, followed by Keselowski, Bowman, Blaney and Matt DiBenedetto.
Keselowski resumed Hamlin’s leadership shortly after the restart. Larson ran him over and went back to first place on lap 107.
On lap 123, several teams went to the pit road to start a round of green flag pit stops to buy new tires and fuel to reach the end of the stage.
With 25 laps to go until the end of the stage, five cars still had to go to the pits and Larson ran in sixth place, the first among the cars that completed the stop.
As soon as the stop cycle was completed on lap 147, Larson had an advantage of more than 5 seconds over Keselowski, followed by Hamlin, Blaney and Byron.
With 10 laps left on the stage, Larson continued to have a big advantage over Keselowski and Hamlin.
Stage 1
Keselowski bypassed Elliott with a lap from the end and stood his ground to win the victory of Stage 1, his first stage victory in the 2021 season.
Blaney came in third, Hamlin fourth and Bowman completed the top five.
Harvick started on pole, but Byron used a three-wide move from turn 4 to lead lap 1.
With only 15 laps to go, Byron had a small but consistent advantage over Larson and Elliott in third, with all four Hendrick cars in the top seven.
Elliott finally got around Byron on lap 20 to take the lead in the race for the first time. Byron dropped to second and Larson ran to third.
On lap 26, NASCAR displayed a competition alert to allow teams to check tire wear. All cars from the first lap go to the pit, with Larson being the first off the road.
Bubba Wallace was penalized for speeding on the pit road and had to restart from the back of the field. When the race returned to the green on lap 31, Larson was followed by Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski and Bowman.
Hamlin bypassed Larson, turning off Turn 2 after the restart, to take the lead for the first time.
Larson went around Hamlin on lap 44 to regain the lead, while Keselowski moved to third.
On lap 46, NASCAR issued a warning for a piece of rubble on the track near the start / finish line.
Most of the cars from the first lap to the pits, but Larson stayed out and remained in the lead. Hamlin was the first off pit road. At the restart on lap 52, Larson was followed by Logano and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Logano grabbed the lead on lap 53 only to see Keselowski take him off on lap 54. And Logano again took the lead on lap 56.
Twenty laps from the end of the first stage, Logano stayed ahead, but a lap later Elliott bypassed him to regain first place.
Keselowski regained the lead on lap 72, while the race at the front remained wild and fluid. Elliott mounted a load and passed Keselowski on lap 74 to return to the front.