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KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Kyle Larson has always found it easier to be the hunter than the hunted.
He won't have much choice in the matter now.
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion capped a dominant performance at Kansas Speedway on Sunday by passing Chase Briscoe with seven laps left and leading the rest of the way, leaving Larson to wheel his No. 5 Chevrolet into victory lane for a record-tying fourth time at the mile-and-a-half oval and with a padded lead in the Chase for the championship standings.
Larson won each of the first two stages and broke his own record by leading 235 laps, allowing him to turn the slimmest of leads -- a single point over Denny Hamlin at the start of the day -- into a 26-point advantage heading to Las Vegas next weekend.
"Such a good day," Larson said. "I was going to be happy with second how the race went, but to get the lead, that's a big deal."
Briscoe chased down Larson throughout the final stage, finally getting around him with 30 laps to go. But after briefly pulling away, the No. 19 Toyota began to get loose, and Briscoe brushed the wall. Larson closed in on the lead again, made a move on the low side and powered away, taking the checkered flag for the second time in three races.
He also won at St. Louis, a victory that had ended a maddening 51-race winless drought.
"I think it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted," Larson said. "With me out front, I'm just defending, trying to guess on what the fast lines are, and when he got in front of me he started getting really loose."
So loose that Briscoe drifted all the way back to fourth. Austin Cindric wound up second and Hamlin finished third.
"It was better for me being in second. It would tighten me up and allow me to be a little better," Briscoe said, "and as soon as I got the lead I got really free again. Frustrating for sure."
Cindric spent much of the day stalking Larson but was never able to get his No. 2 Ford around him. He might have been the fastest car on the track at the end, too, but Cindric was too far back to mount a challenge for the victory.
Elsewhere:
– George Russell held off Max Verstappen for his first Formula 1 win in three months to cut into Kimi Antonelli's standings lead at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
– Shawn Langdon won the Top Fuel Division in the NHRA Nationals at The Rock on Sunday with Doug Kalitta finishing second. Other winners were Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Greg Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle).