{"id":6691,"date":"2016-11-05T18:20:42","date_gmt":"2016-11-05T23:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=6691"},"modified":"2016-11-05T18:20:42","modified_gmt":"2016-11-05T23:20:42","slug":"larson-holds-off-keselowski-for-nascar-xfinity-series-win-at-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/05\/larson-holds-off-keselowski-for-nascar-xfinity-series-win-at-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Larson holds off Keselowski for NASCAR XFINITY Series win at Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kyle

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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By Reid Spencer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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NASCAR Wire Service<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

FORT WORTH, Tex. \u2013 Grabbing the lead after a restart on Lap 171 of 200, Kyle Larson moved to the top of the track just in time to hold off polesitter Brad Keselowski for the victory in Saturday\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a race that saw Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez open some breathing room in the inaugural NASCAR XFINITY Series Chase with respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes, Larson got a push from sixth-place finisher Elliott Sadler on the decisive restart and kept Keselowski behind him for the final 30 laps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Kyle

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite brushing the outside wall in Turn 1 with eight laps left, Larson\u2019s No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet got to the finish line .385 seconds ahead of Keselowski\u2019s No. 22 Team Penske Ford, as the winner worked traffic over the closing five laps.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I love seeing Elliott Sadler behind me on the restarts,” said Larson, who won for the first time at Texas, the second time this season and the fifth time in his career. “He\u2019s really good at taking off and pushing. He helped me win Pocono earlier this year, and he helped me win this one.<\/p>\n

“I was just really tight on the short runs in traffic there, but once I got to clean air, I was like, \u2018Oh, man, I\u2019m loose,\u2019 and I got nervous and got to the top just in time to get rolling. I actually got loose over the bumps and hit the wall in (Turn) 1. But I had a big enough gap when I hit the wall that he wasn\u2019t able to get to me.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Kyle

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

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In fact, the brush with the wall helped to tighten the handling condition of Larson\u2019s car and made it easier to drive.<\/p>\n

Seeking his first XFINITY Series victory of the season, Keselowski led 145 laps and was delighted with the speed in his car. But that emotion was tempered by the disappointment of losing a race with perhaps the fastest car.<\/p>\n

“Whatever car got out in front, with the way the aerodynamics are, was going to control the pace,” Keselowski said. “It\u2019s so hard to pass because the aero is so important and the cars are so equal that way.<\/p>\n

“I thought maybe we were just a touch faster, but without the track position, you lose too much grip behind the guy to do anything.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Kyle

Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 ENEOS Chevrolet, and his son, Owen, pose with the winner’s decal in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2016 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan\/NASCAR via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Kevin Harvick finished third, more than five seconds behind the two frontrunners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suarez took over the Chase lead by one point over Sadler and 17 clear of fifth-place Justin Allgaier, with a cut to the top four drivers looming next Saturday at Phoenix. Jones gained two positions to third place, seven points ahead of Allgaier.<\/p>\n

One point separates fourth-place Blake Koch (14th Saturday) from Allgaier, who came home 10th at the 1.5-mile track.<\/p>\n

“It was one of the first good points days we\u2019ve had in this Chase,” Jones said. “It was a good, solid day\u2014what we needed to do. We want to go, obviously, and try to win these races, but we just didn\u2019t have the car to do it today.”<\/p>\n

Ryan Reed, Darrell Wallace Jr., and Brendan Gaughan are sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Chase standings. Reed trails Koch by five points entering the Phoenix race, with Wallace behind by 20 and Gaughan 23 back of the current cut line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
\nTexas Motor Speedway
\nFort Worth, Texas
\nSaturday, November 05, 2016<\/p>\n

1. (5) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200.
\n2. (1) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200.
\n3. (9) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 200.
\n4. (2) Erik Jones # (C), Toyota, 200.
\n5. (4) Daniel Suarez (C), Toyota, 200.
\n6. (8) Elliott Sadler (C), Chevrolet, 200.
\n7. (7) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 200.
\n8. (10) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 200.
\n9. (3) Matt Tifft(i), Toyota, 200.
\n10. (6) Justin Allgaier (C), Chevrolet, 200.
\n11. (18) Darrell Wallace Jr (C), Ford, 200.
\n12. (13) Ryan Reed (C), Ford, 200.
\n13. (14) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 200.
\n14. (12) Blake Koch (C), Chevrolet, 200.
\n15. (16) Brendan Gaughan (C), Chevrolet, 200.
\n16. (17) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 200.
\n17. (20) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 200.
\n18. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 199.
\n19. (11) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 199.
\n20. (19) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 199.
\n21. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 198.
\n22. (25) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 197.
\n23. (23) Corey LaJoie, Toyota, 196.
\n24. (26) David Starr, Chevrolet, 196.
\n25. (27) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 196.
\n26. (30) Clint King, Ford, 196.
\n27. (24) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 194.
\n28. (28) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 193.
\n29. (29) Austin Theriault(i), Chevrolet, 192.
\n30. (35) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, 190.
\n31. (34) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 190.
\n32. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 185.
\n33. (38) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 185.
\n34. (40) Matt Waltz, Chevrolet, 184.
\n35. (37) Brandon Hightower, Dodge, Engine, 130.
\n36. (22) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Accident, 129.
\n37. (32) Dexter Stacey, Chevrolet, Handling, 80.
\n38. (39) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, Suspension, 24.
\n39. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Handling, 19.
\n40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Brakes, 1.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:\u00a0 140.992 mph.
\nTime of Race:\u00a0 2 Hrs, 07 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory:\u00a0 0.385 Seconds.
\nCaution Flags:\u00a0 5 for 22 laps.
\nLead Changes:\u00a0 5 among 4 drivers.
\nLap Leaders:\u00a0\u00a0 B. Keselowski(i) 0; E. Jones (C) # 1-23; B. Keselowski(i) 24-48; B. Poole # 49-50; B. Keselowski(i) 51-170; K. Larson(i) 171-200.
\nLeaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):\u00a0 B. Keselowski(i) 2 times for 145 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 30 laps; E. Jones (C) # 1 time for 23 laps; B. Poole # 1 time for 2 laps.
\nTop 10 in Points: D. Suarez (C) – 3,075; E. Sadler (C) – 3,074; E. Jones # (C) – 3,065; B. Koch (C) – 3,059; J. Allgaier (C) – 3,058; R. Reed (C) – 3,054; D. Wallace Jr (C) – 3,039; B. Gaughan (C) – 3,036; B. Poole # – 2,148; T. Dillon – 2,139.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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  By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. \u2013 Grabbing the lead after a restart on Lap 171 of 200, Kyle Larson moved to the top of the track just in time to hold off polesitter Brad Keselowski for the victory in Saturday\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. In a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[225,16,21],"class_list":["post-6691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","category-texas-motor-speedway","tag-kyle-larson","tag-nascar","tag-texas-motor-speedway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/TMS_110516_14-e1478387607580.jpg?fit=625%2C417&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-1JV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6691","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=6691"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6691\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6731,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6691\/revisions\/6731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}