The Associated Press
Greg Beacham
FONTANA, Calif.–A blistering first in qualifying. A surprising first in the Xfinity Series race.
And a steady, tenacious first when it really mattered yesterday.
Kyle Larson was second-to-nobody in his home state.
Larson persevered through four late restarts to win at Fontana, adding his second career victory to his overall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series points lead.
“Lots of fun to be Kyle Larson right now,” he said with a grin.
“Our race cars are really fast in Xfinity and Cup, so it’s a blast to show up to the race track every week.”
Larson finished second in each of the last three races, but the Sacramento-area native’s Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the class of the field at Auto Club Speedway all weekend long.
He claimed the second pole of his career Friday, and also won the Xfinity race Saturday in a result that surprised him much more than his Cup triumph.
The 24-year-old prodigy became just the fourth driver to sweep a race weekend at Fontana.
“Our cars are really good at every race track right now,” Larson said. “I feel like I have a shot to win every time I go to the race track.
“That’s always a lot of fun.”
Fontana’s bumpy two-mile track particularly suits Larson’s skills, and he was unshakable during the late drama and jockeying typical to the five-wide asphalt one hour east of Los Angeles.
After surging up from fourth to first with four new tires before the final caution, Larson made one last outstanding restart and cruised through two overtime laps to win.
“I’ve been watching all the TV, like, ‘He doesn’t know how to win,'” Larson noted.
“But we knew how to win today so that was good.”
Brad Keselowski was second while Clint Bowyer came third for his best finish since June, 2015 and his first top-five finish in 52 races.
Martin Truex Jr. was fourth after challenging Larson aggressively, with Joey Logano roaring up to fifth.
Larson added to his other career victory, which came on NASCAR’s other two-mile oval at Michigan.
After an early NASCAR season full of dominant cars getting stung at the finish, Larson wasted none of his advantage.
“He’s on a really nice roll and it takes everything,” noted Keselowski, who surged into second after two outstanding late restarts.
“This is a sport of speed, execution, and luck, and when you’re on a roll like that, you’ve got all three on your side.”
The three-race Western swing is over and NASCAR next heads home to Martinsville Speedway–moving from Fontana’s wide two-mile oval to a half-mile bullring.
