Kyle Larson held off Tyler Reddick in a 27-lap shootout in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, driving his No. 5 Chevrolet to his third career victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Larson, 31, beat Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota by 0.441 seconds and won his 24th NASCAR Cup Series race. Ryan Blaney finished third.
Fourth-place finisher Ross Chastain qualified 20th, but a problem with the wrap on his No. 1 Chevrolet forced the Trackhouse Racing team to re-wrap his car, sending him to the rear before the race’s start.
Ty Gibbs finished fifth in the six-caution race.
Pole winner Joey Logano struggled to find grip in his Team Penske Ford and came home ninth.
Hometown favorite Kyle Busch had a fast Chevrolet, but he pitted over the line with just over 50 laps left and served a penalty. His No. 8 ended up 26th.
Following caution-producing tire incidents by Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez — last week’s three-wide winner at Atlanta — stayed out and was at the point again on a 1.5-mile track.
However, as tear wear began, Busch and Larson took turns at the front before Larson assumed the lead late in the 80-lap Stage 1 and held off Reddick for the most playoff bonus points.
As Stage 2 began to shake out, the Toyota Camry XSEs began to move toward the front with Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Gibbs, Bell and Reddick all spending time inside the top 10, while the Fords struggled to find the right combination of handling and speed.
With 20 laps remaining, Larson led Busch by nearly four seconds, but Bell brought out the fourth caution when he spun his No. 20 Toyota with nine laps left.
In a four-lap dash, Larson passed teammate Alex Bowman, who made a two-tire stop as the field took four, to win Stage 2’s segment with Reddick again coming home in second.
With 95 circuits left after Stage 2 ended, Larson pulled out to a large lead, but second-place Reddick got a boost from teammate Bubba Wallace and was pushed to the front as pitting began with 60 laps to go.
On Lap 234, Corey LaJoie spun in Turn 1 for the fifth caution.
–Field Level Media