Kyle Larson wasn't waiting for an invite to the Phoenix championship race at the end of the round of 8. Instead, he dominated in Texas to secure his place in the championship 4 and then spoke of his desires to sweep the rest of the round for good measure.
Larson led 256 of 334 laps at Texas and got his eighth win this season. He led the final 218 laps, staying in front through seven restarts in the final stage that included three in the final 34 laps after incidents involving playoff contenders Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.
“This is unreal. I knew we’d have a good shot to win and our car was amazing. That was probably the best 550 package, intermediate package we’ve had all year,” Larson said. “We’re going to race for a championship. This is crazy.”
The seven remaining playoff contenders leave Texas with just two chances to get into the championship four, with Kansas and Martinsville left before the championship race in Phoenix.
Final Results:
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Brad Keselowski
Kevin Harvick
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick
Daniel Suarez
Denny Hamlin
Erik Jones
Matt DiBenedetto
Austin Dillon
Chase Briscoe
Kurt Busch
Michael McDowell
Aric Almirola
Cole Custer
Corey LaJoie
Chris Buescher
B.J. McLeod
David Starr
Garrett Smithley
Martin Truex, Jr.
Josh Bilicki
Timmy Hill
Ross Chastain
Anthony Alfredo
Joey Logano
Quin Houff
Bubba Wallace
Alex Bowman
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
Ryan Newman
Ryan Preece
Justin Haley
Cody Ware
Joey Gase
Chris Estrada has the recap from NBC Sports:
Check out the Orlando Sentinel with Stephen Hawkins: