{"id":15100,"date":"2018-03-03T19:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T01:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=15100"},"modified":"2018-03-03T22:55:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T04:55:51","slug":"kyle-larson-holds-off-dirt-rival-christopher-bell-for-las-vegas-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/03\/kyle-larson-holds-off-dirt-rival-christopher-bell-for-las-vegas-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Larson holds off dirt rival Christopher Bell for Las Vegas win"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS, Nev. \u2013 Kyle Larson<\/strong> pulled away from pole winner Christopher Bell<\/strong> after a restart with seven laps left and took the checkered flag in Saturday\u2019s Boyd Gaming 300, winning for the first time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Larson beat Bell to the finish line by .881 seconds. The driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet led 142 of the 200 laps and overcame a pit road snafu that dropped him to eighth for a restart on Lap 139 after a caution for Austin Cindric\u2019s crash in Turn 2.<\/p>\n

The victory was Larson\u2019s first of the season and the ninth of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an awesome day,\u201d Larson said in Victory Lane. \u201cThis car was so fast. It was really fast last year, but you really never know, and this was my first time racing with this new (flange-fit) body, and it performed well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nor did it take him long to recover after the slow pit stop on Lap 135 that set him back.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally my guys are some of the best on pit road,\u201d Larson said. \u201cThey said the left-rear (tire) just wouldn\u2019t come out (of the wheel well). I had been fighting a tight issue all day and then finally we got our car to turn better.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, and his son, Owen, pose with the winners sticker during the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt allowed me to get to the lead fairly easily, and then I was saving fuel in case the race stayed green.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson and Bell are frequent rivals in dirt-track racing, and Bell had the upper hand in last November\u2019s Turkey Night Classic and January\u2019s Chili Bowl, the marquee midget race of the season. Bell was happy to see the friendly rivalry extend to pavement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was really cool, and there will be a lot more of that,\u201d promised Bell, who outdueled Larson at the end of Stage 1 but fell short after the final restart. \u201cWe were close, running second to Kyle \u2013 if I\u2019m going to run second to anyone, I guess I would rather it be him.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial day, we were able to win a stage and get a Playoff point. We need to keep racking those up and get some race wins here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 DC Solar Chevrolet, celebrates with his son, Owen, after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Justin Allgaier ran third in the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Blaney was fourth, followed by Elliott Sadler.<\/p>\n

But the show at the beginning and at the end was Larson vs. Bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always fun to get to race Bell,\u201d Larson said. \u201cHe seems to beat me all the time in the dirt stuff, and he edged me out there in qualifying. We were pretty equal there\u2026 It was cool to race, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first stage kind of felt like we were dirt-track racing there, swapping lanes and stuff. I was trying to take the air off him, and he got by, and yeah, it was fun\u2026 Anytime I get to race in the Xfinity Series, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be up front, battling each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trying for a weekend sweep after winning Friday night\u2019s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, Kyle Busch fought an ill-handling Toyota throughout the race and finished 14th after his fueler drew a penalty for handling a tire during a green-flag stop on Lap 166.<\/p>\n

Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Las Vegas native Spencer Gallagher completed the top 10. Reddick and Sadler leave Las Vegas tied for the series lead, 23-points ahead of Bell in third.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Kyle Larson – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/NXS_LVMS_Larson_030318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christopher Bell – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/NXS_LVMS_Bell_030318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Justin Allgaier – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/NXS_LVMS_Allgaier_030318.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – Boyd Gaming 300<\/strong><\/p>\n

Las Vegas Motor Speedway<\/strong><\/p>\n

Las Vegas, Nevada<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, March 3, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

               1. (2) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               2. (1) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

               3. (12) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               4. (8) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

               5. (6) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               6. (3) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               7. (16) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

               8. (7) Tyler Reddick #, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               9. (4) Cole Custer, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

               10. (11) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               11. (9) Matt Tifft, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               12. (10) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               13. (19) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               14. (5) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200.<\/p>\n

               15. (17) Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               16. (18) Kaz Grala #, Ford, 200.<\/p>\n

               17. (24) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 200.<\/p>\n

               18. (14) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 199.<\/p>\n

               19. (13) Ryan Reed, Ford, 199.<\/p>\n

               20. (23) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

               21. (29) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 197.<\/p>\n

               22. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 196.<\/p>\n

               23. (26) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 196.<\/p>\n

               24. (37) Vinnie Miller #, Chevrolet, 196.<\/p>\n

               25. (33) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 195.<\/p>\n

               26. (34) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 195.<\/p>\n

               27. (27) Matt Mills #, Chevrolet, 194.<\/p>\n

               28. (39) Josh Bilicki #, Toyota, 189.<\/p>\n

               29. (21) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, Engine, 185.<\/p>\n

               30. (40) Stephen Leicht, Toyota, 185.<\/p>\n

               31. (38) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 183.<\/p>\n

               32. (30) Chad Finchum #, Toyota, Suspension, 140.<\/p>\n

               33. (25) Timmy Hill, Dodge, Power Steering, 134.<\/p>\n

               34. (15) Austin Cindric #, Ford, Accident, 132.<\/p>\n

              35. (35) David Starr, Chevrolet, Engine, 78.<\/p>\n

               36. (31) Spencer Boyd #, Chevrolet, Suspension, 70.<\/p>\n

               37. (36) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Oil Leak, 24.<\/p>\n

               38. (28) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Vibration, 18.<\/p>\n

               39. (32) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Brakes, 15.<\/p>\n

               40. (22) Dylan Lupton, Ford, Accident, 5.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  131.884 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 16 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.881 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  6 for 29 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  10 among 6 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   C. Bell # 0; K. Larson(i) 1-42; C. Bell # 43-48; K. Larson(i) 49-94; R. Blaney(i) 95-127; K. Larson(i) 128-135; C. Custer 136-139; J. Allgaier 140-151; K. Larson(i) 152-186; T. Reddick # 187-189; K. Larson(i) 190-200.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Larson(i) 5 times for 142 laps; R. Blaney(i) 1 time for 33 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 12 laps; C. Bell # 1 time for 6 laps; C. Custer 1 time for 4 laps; T. Reddick # 1 time for 3 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 20,42,9,18,22,19,21,00,1,7<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 42,22,7,00,9,1,19,21,20,18<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service LAS VEGAS, Nev. \u2013 Kyle Larson pulled away from pole winner Christopher Bell after a restart with seven laps left and took the checkered flag in Saturday\u2019s Boyd Gaming 300, winning for the first time at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Larson beat Bell to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[225,67,16,181],"class_list":["post-15100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kyle-larson","tag-las-vegas-motor-speedway","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-xfinity-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-3Vy","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/LVMS_NXS_VL_030318-e1520138844185.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15100"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15113,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15100\/revisions\/15113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}