Kyle Larson walked into the weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a chance to sweep the board. After taking the win in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event on Saturday, Larson had his eyes on doing the same in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400. But by the end of the race, though, handling issues left him fighting an uphill battle against a pack of Toyotas circling around him.
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Starting fifth, by Lap 94, Larson had taken the lead after William Byron lined up behind the No. 5 car and pushed him ahead. During the opening stretch, Larson paced the field for seven laps while keeping his car in the thick of the fight near the front. Larson logged 91 laps inside the top five and 94 laps inside the top ten, with an average running spot of 4.01.
Stage 1 turned into a duel at the front. Christopher Bell surged ahead late in the stage to grab the stage win, leaving Larson to cross the line in second place. The next stage followed a similar end, this time with Byron taking control while Larson again came home second when the stage ended. By the time the final laps played out, the No. 5 machine slipped down the order, and Larson crossed the line in seventh place after leading 62 laps during the race.
Larson later walked through the turning point of his race that came between the end of Stage 2 and the start of Stage 3. “Yeah, the final stage. I guess to end the second stage, we were getting really loose. And William got by. And then, to start the third stage, I just didn’t get, like, the launch I needed or the push I needed, and kind of was side-by-side with them. And then Bell had a huge run behind me and was going to be hard to block.”
He said the balance of the car kept shifting, leaving him to hang on as the run unfolded. “And so, yeah, they got by. I fell in the fourth. And then my balance was just kind of tight that run. So I was hoping to get to a green flag stop. That way, we could be in traffic, and maybe my balance would be in a good spot, and have a good shot to race for the win.”
“But, yeah, I think we had the caution, like, just before the cycle was about to start. And then the next run, I just was really loose. So, just kind of hanging on,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver added.
That’s three Top-10 finishes in a row for Kyle Larson. He talks with @JamieLittleTV after a P.7 finish in Vegas. pic.twitter.com/gvN7AbLcNo
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 15, 2026
Despite the drop, Larson still walked away with a top ten and 48 points, leaving him seventh in the standings in the NASCAR Cup Series table.
Larson also lauded his teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. Chase Elliott brought his car home in second place, while Byron closed the race in third, giving the organization a strong showing in the fifth race of the season.
