Kyle Larson did something unpredictable again – this time it involved his Hendrick Motorsports teammate.
The California native conquered NASCAR’s reigning king of road course racing in Chase Elliott on Sunday, sweeping each stage and holding off the No. 9 on a two-lap shootout at the end of the race.
Larson spent weekends in 2020 winning race after race after he got hot and dialed into a streak. Counting his sprint car wins and last weekend’s Coca Cola 600, he’s collected four victories in a row.
It’s something to look at too, as the driver of the No. 5 took to the top of the playoff grid by collecting seven playoff points and a third win this season on Sunday. He’s building a resume to punch a ticket to Phoenix.
With the win, Larson has eight more playoff points than Martin Truex Jr. – who bounced back from a number of poor finishes in a row.
Joey Logano and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five while Kurt Busch came home with one of his best results on the season.
Despite causing a caution and forcing Kevin Harvick out of the race late, Ross Chastain came home with a top 10 riding along in 7th.
Bubba Wallace earned one of his best results at a road course in his career, too, coming home P14.
Aside from the results on Sunday, Hendrick Motorsports enters the All-Star break on a streak itself. The team has won each of the past four races dating back to the 1-2-3-4 run at Dover.
NASCAR will be going to Texas Motor Speedway next week for its annual all-star race before heading to Nashville Superspeedway for its inaugural race at the track in two weeks.
With 10 races remaining in the regular season, the tour has seen 11 different winners and has Denny Hamlin holding up the regular season championship spot. We could be looking at just four wildcard spots or less as things play out and new track could throw a corkscrew in that.
NASCAR Cup Series Results
Sonoma Raceway
1. Kyle Larson
2. Chase Elliott
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Joey Logano
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kurt Busch
7. Ross Chastain
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Alex Bowman
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Erik Jones
12. Daniel Suarez
13. Austin Dillon
14. Bubba Wallace
15. Brad Keselowski
16. Chris Buescher
17. Chase Briscoe
18. Corey LaJoie
19. Tyler Reddick
20. Cole Custer
21. Ryan Preece
22. Kevin Harvick
23. Matt DiBenedetto
24. Christopher Bell
25. James Davison
26. Scott Heckert
27. Aric Almirola
28. Michael McDowell
29. Josh Bilicki
30. Ben Rhodes
31. Anthony Alfredo
32. Garrett Smithley
33. Ryan Newman
34. Cody Ware
35. William Byron
36. Quin Houff
37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
| 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | ||||||
| After 16 of 26 Regular Season Races – Next Race @ Nashville | ||||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | Points | Cutoff | PP | |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 3 | x | x | 26 | |
| 2 | Martin Truex Jr. | 3 | x | x | 18 | |
| 3 | Alex Bowman | 2 | x | x | 10 | |
| 4 | Chase Elliott | 1 | 591 | x | 6 | |
| 5 | William Byron | 1 | 564 | x | 6 | |
| 6 | Joey Logano | 1 | 548 | x | 8 | |
| 7 | Kyle Busch | 1 | 520 | x | 7 | |
| 8 | Ryan Blaney | 1 | 509 | x | 8 | |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 473 | x | 6 | |
| 10 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 364 | x | 5 | |
| 11 | Michael McDowell | 1 | 355 | X | 5 | |
| 12 | Denny Hamlin | 664 | +333 | 5 (+15) | ||
| 13 | Kevin Harvick | 483 | +152 | 0 | ||
| 14 | Austin Dillon | 436 | +105 | 0 | ||
| 15 | Tyler Reddick | 398 | +67 | 0 | ||
| 16 | Chris Buescher | 391 | +60 | 1 | ||
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||||
| 17 | Matt DiBenedetto | 331 | -60 | 1 | ||
| 18 | Kurt Busch | 328 | -63 | 0 | ||
| 19 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 309 | -82 | 0 | ||
| 20 | Ross Chastain | 307 | -84 | 0 | ||
| 21 | Bubba Wallace | 298 | -93 | 1 | ||
| 22 | Daniel Suarez | 293 | -98 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Ryan Newman | 287 | -104 | 0 | ||
| 24 | Ryan Preece | 281 | -110 | 0 | ||
| 25 | Erik Jones | 272 | -119 | 0 | ||
| 26 | Chase Briscoe ® | 271 | -120 | 0 | ||
| 27 | Cole Custer | 253 | -138 | 0 | ||
| 28 | Aric Almirola | 205 | -186 | 0 | ||
| 29 | Corey LaJoie | 187 | -204 | 0 | ||
| 30 | Anthony Alfredo ® | 171 | -220 | 0 | ||
2021 NASCAR Cup Series Winners
Daytona | Michael McDowell
Daytona Road Course | Christopher Bell
Homestead | William Byron
Las Vegas | Kyle Larson
Phoenix | Martin Truex Jr.
Atlanta | Ryan Blaney
Bristol Dirt | Joey Logano
Martinsville | Martin Truex Jr. (2)
Richmond | Alex Bowman
Talladega | Brad Keselowski
Kansas | Kyle Busch
Darlington | Martin Truex Jr. (3)
Dover | Alex Bowman (2)
COTA | Chase Elliott
Charlotte | Kyle Larson (2)
Sonoma | Kyle Larson (3)
