KYLE LARSON WINS TALLADEGA RACE AND EXTENDS NASCAR LEAD

Kyle Larson won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway after a final-lap battle. It was his first victory at Talladega and his third in seven races. The win gave Larson his 35th career Cup victory in the No. 5 Chevrolet. William Byron finished second in the No. 24 Chevrolet, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in the No. 47 Chevrolet. Ross Chastain and Cole Custer completed the top five.

Talladega’s 2.66-mile oval hosted the eighth race of the 10-race Chase. Christopher Bell spun while entering pit lane during the first green-flag stop, clipped the inside wall and lost several laps while his crew made repairs. A crash near the end of stage two caught Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suárez, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Preece. Joey Logano’s car overturned in another crash with five laps remaining. Larson twice rallied in the closing laps and climbed from 11th to first.

NASCAR’s Chase standings put Larson 73 points ahead of Hamlin, who finished eighth, with two races remaining. Bell trails Larson by 74 points, Chase Briscoe by 79 and Logano by 100, according to the standings. The standings place Blaney 107 points behind Larson and Reddick 126 points back. With a maximum of 76 points available for a win, Larson could secure the championship at Martinsville Speedway on 1 November. He became Talladega’s 13th different winner in 13 races, matching streaks at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.