Larson pips Bell at Las Vegas

Kyle Larson has won the South Point 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Larson started second, won the first two stages, and regained the lead with 44 laps remaining.

The Californian held a ten-second lead over Christopher Bell with ten laps remaining.

Bell began closing on Larson, made a run out of turn four on the final lap, and finished .082 seconds behind the #5 Chevrolet.

“Thankfully Christopher always races extremely clean,” Larson said. “It could’ve got crazier than it did coming to the start-finish line, so thank you to him for racing with respect there.”

With the win, his fourth of the season, Larson becomes the first driver to advance to the Championship 4.

Larson led 133 of 267 laps on his way to his 23rd Cup victory.

Bell was disappointed that he couldn’t make the pass for the win.

“I don’t know what else I could’ve done,” he said. “I feel like that was my moment to make the Final Four, and I didn’t quite capture it.”

“Coming to the checquered there I knew that he was gonna be blocking, so I was like, ‘I’m gonna try and go high,’ and he went high.”

“But I don’t even know if I had a run to get by him there coming to the line. It wasn’t enough.”

Larson, who took his Indy 500 Rookie Test earlier this week, now has an opportunity to win the NASCAR championship after winning the title in 2021.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Florida for the 4EVER 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway next Sunday.

Results, NASCAR South Point 400:

1. #5 – Kyle Larson
2. #20 – Christopher Bell
3. #8 – Kyle Busch
4. #6 – Brad Keselowski
5. #1 – Ross Chastain
6. #24 – William Byron
7. #45 – Tyler Reddick
8. #19 – Martin Truex Jr.
9. #10 – Denny Hamlin
10. #17 – Chris Buescher

Playoff standings:

1. Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 4,084
2. William Byron, Chevrolet, 4,077
3. Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 4,070
4. Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 4,070
5. Christopher Bell, Toyota, 4,068
6. Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 4054
7. Ryan Blaney, Ford, 4,053
8. Chris Buescher, Ford, 4,047