Larson extends Chase points lead with win
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TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Kyle Larson threw his left hand off the wheel in disgust with a half-lap remaining at Talladega Superspeedway, watching helplessly as his No. 5 Chevrolet plummeted from the lead.
"I screwed up," he said. "I felt like, 'Man, another one I just gave away.' And I probably never am going to have an opportunity to win a speedway race that easily with so many allies around me. And so I was just mad."
About 30 seconds later, he was jubilant after picking the perfect time to make some perfect moves for his first victory at the 2.66-mile oval that has been among his worst in the NASCAR Cup Series.
"All of a sudden, everything just opened up," he said. "An unbelievable way to get my first speedway win. It all just worked out."
Desperate for a rebound after his worst finish of the Chase, the defending series champion expanded his points lead by a wide margin with a breathtaking rally from 11th to first through the last two corners of the final lap.
Larson took the white flag in the lead but lost 10 spots in the first two turns after being unable to handle several bumps by the No. 33 Chevy Austin Hill, who was trying to push him to the win.
"Just crazy to get the win after falling back as far as we did," said Larson, who benefited from a drafting push by the No. 1 Chevy of Ross Chastain (who took fourth). "I went left, and everybody was just staying high."
In a three-wide finish, Larson took the checkered flag by a few feet over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who spent much of the race pushing Larson to the front. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 0.066 seconds behind in third place.
"It's good that Kyle won," Byron said. "We worked really well together all day. If I couldn't win, I wanted him to win."
Larson credited the drafting help from Byron and several other Chevy drivers who kept him near the front.
"I felt like the rest of the Chevys were going to go wherever I went," Larson said. "I could kind of carve the way, and they would follow, and that just gives you a lot of confidence."
His faith in a title repeat was also restored.
With his third victory in the past seven races, Larson moved 73 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in the Chase standings with two races remaining.
There are 76 maximum points available for a race win, so it's possible that Larson could clinch his third championship with a win Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway.
US Grand Prix
AUSTIN, Texas -- In the first moments after Kimi Antonelli's latest victory, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff called it "another small step" toward the Formula 1 season championship.
It's much bigger than that as Antonelli marches toward F1 history.
Antonelli's dominant win Sunday at the United States Grand Prix put the 20-year-old Italian on the brink of becoming the youngest champion in series history at the next race in Mexico City
His ninth victory of the season was a pole-to-flag drive that came within a razor-thin margin of closing out the championship. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and Antonelli's Mercedes teammate, George Russell, finished eighth to extend the championship at least one more week.
Anything lower by them Sunday and Antonelli would already be champion.
"The car felt perfect today," Antonelli said. "Trying to have fun, hopefully fight for another win (in Mexico City). It would be best to finish well."
He made quick work of the Sunday with a blistering start that blew Red Bull's Verstappen off the line as he eased into the first corner. The uphill left-turn switchback is one of the most notorious collision spots of the season and it was no trouble on this day.
Verstappen has struggled with his starts several times this season, and Antonelli's blast into the first corner from pole position never gave him a chance to win the inside line into the corner. Instead, the four-time champion quickly found himself in a fight with the two Ferrari cars while Antonelli drove off into the distance and seized control of the race.
Antonelli kept extending his lead while Mercedes watched to see where Russell and Hamilton would finish.
Ferrrari's Charles Leclerc finished second. Verstappen was third after winning the previous two races.