Kyle Larson, who was born eight years after the last NASCAR Cup Series race in the Nashville area, kept alive his sizzling hot streak Sunday by winning the inaugural Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
It was the third consecutive points series race victory and fourth overall, including last week's All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway, for the 28-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California. It was Larson's 10th career victory.
The last NASCAR Cup Series race in the Nashville area was run in 1984 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Geoff Bodine won that race, like Larson, driving for Hendrick Motorsports and in the No. 5 car.
The last race at Nashville Superspeedway, an Xfinity race, was in 2011.
A crowd of 38,000+ packed the grandstands on a sweltering Father's Day at the renovated venue, which was built in 2000.
Ross Chastain was second, William Byron third, Aric Almirola, who was on the pole, fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.
While Larson dominated, leading 264 of 300 laps, it wasn't all smooth sailing. Debris got stuck on his front grill on Lap 246, which threatened his lead because his engine could have overheated.
Larson, however, caught up to J.J. Yeley, who was a lap down, and drafted off him, which blew the debris off his grill.
Several drivers had brake issues on the sizzling hot track. By staying out front and out of the congestion for most of the race, Larson avoided having to brake as much and had no significant issues.
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NASCAR Cup Series Race – Inaugural Ally 400
Nashville Superspeedway
Nashville, Tennessee
Sunday, June 20, 2021
(5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300.
(19) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 300.
(4) William Byron, Chevrolet, 300.
(1) Aric Almirola, Ford, 300.
(12) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 300.
(14) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 300.
(22) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 300.
(30) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 300.
(25) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 300.
(3) Joey Logano, Ford, 300.
(2) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 300.
(28) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 300.
(29) Ryan Newman, Ford, 300.
(8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 300.
(24) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 300.
(23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 300.
(18) Anthony Alfredo #, Ford, 300.
(26) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 300.
(9) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 300.
(21) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 299.
(13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 299.
(35) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 299.
(15) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 299.
(11) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 298.
(36) Garrett Smithley(i), Chevrolet, 298.
(34) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 298.
(32) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, 298.
(31) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 295.
(37) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 295.
(7) Cole Custer, Ford, 252.
(16) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, Accident, 227.
(20) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, Brakes, 197.
(33) Chad Finchum(i), Toyota, Rear End, 157.
(38) David Starr(i), Toyota, Brakes, 126.
(27) Justin Haley(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 79.
(17) Chris Buescher, Ford, Accident, 77.
(10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 53.
(39) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, Accident, 0.
(6) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 113.792 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 30 Mins, 23 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.335 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 60 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 7 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Almirola 0;K. Busch 1-5;K. Larson 6-45;K. Busch 46-48;A. Almirola 49;K. Busch 50-53;K. Larson 54-79;C. Elliott 80-92;K. Larson 93-137;K. Busch 138;K. Larson 139-176;C. Briscoe # 177-181;K. Larson 182-218;R. Chastain 219-222;K. Larson 223-300.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson 6 times for 264 laps; Chase Elliott 1 time for 13 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 10 laps; Chase Briscoe # 1 time for 5 laps; Ross Chastain 1 time for 4 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 3 laps; Aric Almirola 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,5,99,18,3,47,2,22,21,11
Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,3,14,24,18,11,47,10,4,1
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