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Kyle Larson rewarded with Go Rewards 200 win

Kyle Larson is one of the NASCAR Cup Series‘ top road course racers today with three wins on such tracks. He finally added an Xfinity Series version on Saturday at Watkins Glen International, even if he had basically been gifted the victory after Cup team-mate William Byron spun while battling Ty Gibbs for the lead with five laps remaining.

Larson was doing a one-off with JR Motorsports as part of a road course-only slate in the Xfinity Series, his first starts in NASCAR’s second tier since 2018; he won the pole and finished runner-up to Gibbs with his Cup employer Hendrick Motorsports at Road America in July. He started third behind Byron and Gibbs, and those two were the class of the field as they combined to lead sixty of eighty-two laps with Byron also winning Stage #2.

However, the Byron/Gibbs Show got physical on lap 75 as they ran next to each other through the Bus Stop chicane. Gibbs, who was on Byron’s left, collided with him and sent the two into a spin across the racing surface. Larson and A.J. Allmendinger slipped across as the caution came out.

“We had a good start and [Byron] kind of washed up a little bit, but we had a good start,” explained Gibbs. “I stayed side-by-side with him and I felt like I had a good side draft going with him heading into the Bus Stop to where it helped me get position, and I remember coming to however many laps to go, so I felt like if I just let him by, it was game over. I had good position, I just didn’t put myself in a good spot on the kerbs and and it just got me loose, I washed up into him and wrecked us both.

“It was my fault, but I was going for the win. I didn’t just want to pull over and let him go. Sorry to the #17 guys and to William. We put on a great show and I feel like he raced me well and I raced him well until I wrecked him. It was a good battle.”

The race resumed with five laps remaining and Larson held off Allmendinger for his thirteenth career Xfinity win, first on a road course, and first since Bristol in 2018. He also notched JRM’s first road course triumph since Road America in 2018 with Justin Allgaier, first at The Glen, and fifth overall; the team also won with Ron Fellows at Montreal 2008 and twice at Mid-Ohio with Regan Smith in 2015 and Allgaier in 2018. Larson further secured Chevrolet’s first Xfinity victory at WGI since Kevin Harvick in 2007.

Sammy Smith won the first stage and finished a career-best third.

“I learned a lot. It was a good day overall,” said Smith. “We had a good day as a team and I was able to capitalise. The last few races, I didn’t feel like I was able to capitalise and I feel like I did a better job today. Looking forward to Daytona next week.

“I felt like it was a good opportunity and I felt like I did a good job pushing Ty and then I’m not sure what happened between him and Byron, but they got pushed wide and then I got pushed wide. Then I got put three-wide in the esses and killed my momentum. Was in a bad spot going into the bus stop, but did a good job coming out of there and it was a good day.”

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
1388Kyle Larson*JR MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
2416A.J. AllmendingerKaulig RacingChevrolet82Running
31918Sammy SmithJoe Gibbs RacingToyota82Running
4169Noah GragsonJR MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
51448Kaz Grala*Big Machine Racing TeamChevrolet82Running
671Sam MayerJR MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
7698Riley HerbstStewart-Haas RacingFord82Running
8112Sheldon CreedRichard Childress RacingChevrolet82Running
9178Josh BerryJR MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
102251Jeremy ClementsJeremy Clements RacingChevrolet82Running
11507Cole Custer*SS-Green Light RacingFord82Running
122344Stefan Parsons*Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet82Running
133439Ryan SiegRSS RacingFord82Running
143566Timmy Hill*MBM MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
151326Connor Mosack*Sam Hunt RacingToyota82Running
162010Landon CassillKaulig RacingChevrolet82Running
172145Josh Bilicki*Alpha Prime RacingChevrolet82Running
182623Anthony AlfredoOur MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
193308Andy LallySS-Green Light RacingFord82Running
202735Brad Pérez*Emerling-Gase MotorsportsToyota82Running
213191Preston PardusDGM RacingChevrolet82Running
222534Kyle WeathermanJesse Iwuji MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
233278Scott HeckertB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
241219Brandon JonesJoe Gibbs RacingToyota82Running
25117William Byron*Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
26374Bayley CurreyJD MotorsportsChevrolet82Running
27254Ty GibbsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota82Running
281592Ross Chastain*DGM RacingChevrolet81Running
293802Blaine Perkins*Our MotorsportsChevrolet80Running
30821Austin HillRichard Childress RacingChevrolet73Running
31911Daniel HemricKaulig RacingChevrolet58Accident
32305Brandon BrownB.J. McLeod MotorsportsChevrolet51Axle
332931Myatt SniderJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet50Accident
343668Kris Wright*Brandonbilt MotorsportsChevrolet30Driveshaft
351836Alex LabbéDGM RacingChevrolet26Accident
362438Patrick GallagherRSS RacingFord14Rear Gear
372827Jeb BurtonOur MotorsportsChevrolet8Accident
38107Justin AllgaierJR MotorsportsChevrolet4Accident
DNQ32Austin Wayne SelfJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet
DNQ6Spencer PumpellyJD MotorsportsChevrolet
DNQ47Stanton BarrettMike Harmon RacingChevrolet
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for points

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