Kyle Larson wins again at Kansas,
dominating for his 3rd NASCAR Cup Series win this season
[May 12, 2025]
By DAVE SKRETTA
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Kyle Larson took most of the drama out of
his second straight spring victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.
After putting his No. 5 car on the pole for Hendrick Motorsports,
Larson led 221 of 267 laps, winning both stages and cruising to his
third NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. He was never challenged
down the stretch by second-finishing Christopher Bell — and he most
certainly didn't need another last-lap pass to win at the wire like
he did a year ago.
The margin over Chris Buescher then was 0.001 seconds, the closest
in Cup Series history. It was 0.712 seconds on Sunday.
“Glad to not win by an inch this time,” Larson said with a smile. “A
little safer gap.”
Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in
the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he
will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will
be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at “the Double” —
running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the
same day Memorial Day weekend.
Last year, he contended in the rain-delayed Indy 500 before a
speeding penalty on pit road resulted in an 18th-place finish. He
then hopped a flight to Charlotte for the NASCAR race, but rain
there kept him from ever completing a lap.
“It's a cool win here at Kansas,” Larson said in victory lane, “and
now we'll try to execute two good weeks at Indy.”
Even though Larson spent most of a hot, sunny day at Kansas in the
lead, he found himself trailing Chase Elliott early in the final
stage. But when Elliott's team dropped the jack too soon before his
right rear tire was on during a pit stop, Larson was able to get
back to the front on the restart, and he spent the last 50 laps
cruising to the checkered flag.
Bell, a three-time winner already, finished in the top three for the
sixth time this season. Ryan Blaney came in third, giving Team
Penske another good run after Austin Cindric won two weeks ago at
Talladega and Joey Logano won last week at Texas.
“I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan was coming on
really strong there,” Bell said. “I feel like our day was kind of a
product of qualifying well and having good pit stops and restarts.”
Blaney knew he was coming on strong, too, but he was left to lament
what might have been.
“We were kind of running those guys down quick,” Blaney said. “A few
more laps, I would have scared the 5 a bit at least.”
Chase Briscoe finished fourth and Larson's teammate Alex Bowman
rounded out the top five.
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Drivers head through Turn 1 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at
Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP
Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Brad Keselowski looked as if he might finally have
his first top-10 finish this season. He started from the rear but
steadily made his way forward, and the 2012 series champion had
moved into second behind Elliott when his right rear went down with
72 laps to go. Keselowski wound up in the wall, ending his hopes of
contending.
“I mean, it was going to be a great day,"
Keselowski said. "I heard a big boom and around it went. It's
unfortunate.”
Denny Hamlin also had a fast car all afternoon, but he wound up
fighting a clutch problem that made pitting a nightmare. He was
still running with the leaders before Keselowski's caution, when yet
more clutch trouble finally ruined his day.
“Really fast again,” Hamlin said. “Just can't keep it together right
now.”
Green and yellow
There had been only one non-stage caution before Keselowski hit the
wall. Cody Ware, Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon brought out another in
a wreck on the restart; Kyle Busch was bumped and spun to bring out
another yellow on the next restart; and Justin Haley, Erik Jones and
Bubba Wallace were involved in another wreck on a third consecutive
restart.
Odds and ends
Larson won for the 32nd time, and joined Hamlin and Busch as the
only active Cup Series drivers to have led more than 10,000 laps.
... Briscoe was fourth for the fourth time this season. He has yet
to finish better. ... Larson made it three straight wins for
Chevrolet at Kansas Speedway. Ross Chastain won the fall race last
season. ... Hamlin's streak of seven straight top-10s at Kansas
ended. He finished 36th. ... Logano challenged for second late in
the race before finishing ninth.
Up next
The All-Star Race is up next Sunday at North Wilkesboro, where
Logano is the defending champ. There are changes to the format this
year, including an optional promoter's caution flag, which could
dramatically reshape the 250-lap race.
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