Kyle Larson's Late-Race Charge at Dover Comes up Short
8 months agoKyle Larson finished a close second to Denny Hamlin in this past weekend's Dover race. He led 39 laps after first beating Martin Truex, Jr. on a green flag pit cycle to win Stage 2 and again took the lead on a caution-flag exchange of pit stops on lap 325. In both cases, Larson eventually lost the lead to Hamlin, first in the pits under caution and later on the penultimate restart when Hamlin took the lead immediately before the crash that took out Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, and William Byron. Although he failed to pass Hamlin for the lead, Larson's finish was deserved as he also ranked second in speed and third in driver rating (only barely behind Martin Truex, Jr.) It was a strong run for Larson, but ultimately he could not overcome Hamlin's successful aero-blocking in a race where it was difficult to pass except on restarts.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference