Relentless Kyle Larson Outsmarts HMS Teammate as He Claims Back to Back Vegas Stage One-Two Victory

Starting off from the second spot, Hendrick Motorsports ace, Kyle Larson made use of this, picking up valuable stage points at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 2021 Cup Series champion looked like he was only on a mission to capture the checkered flag, acing the first two stages of the 267-lap desert race.

Marking his 16th NASCAR Cup Series start at LVMS, Kyle Larson did what most drivers set out to do. His tenacity was evident once he captured the lead, only to fend off the challenge from champions like Kyle Busch and his HMS teammate, Alex Bowman.

Kyle Larson wins the desert battle in Vegas to collect his first win of 2024

While the team’s youngest driver William Byron opened its account, winning NASCAR’s crown jewel event at Daytona International Speedway a few weeks earlier, #5 driver Kyle Larson brought home its second victory out of the three events. Larson’s Sunday performance extended his legacy as the driver registered four straight stage wins at Vegas while racing up a straight six for HMS.

Yung Money made it a third time in his career at Las Vegas, where in 2021 he got his first win driving for Hendrick after a year long suspension in 2020. The driver also won in the No. 5 Chevy at Las Vegas last October in the playoffs.

Till now, Larson has won five straight stages at Vegas, counting the final stage in the fall after he stormed to the front to take the opening stage. He then kept the momentum going as he kept the competition at bay after he recaptured the lead in Lap 106, outpacing 23XI Racing‘s Tyler Reddick to take the second stage of the race.

Penzoil 400 Presented by Jiffy Lube – Larson’s delight and Tyler Reddick’s frustration

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Sunday’s win marked Larson’s 24th career win and his third one at his favorite mile-and-a-half-track at Vegas. It was more of a total domination by the #5 driver as he held challenges to lead 181 laps out of the 267 laps in the race. This included stiff resistance from 2-time Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch early in the race, his own teammate Bowman’s challenge and Tyler Reddick’s late-race comeback.

In fact, in the closing laps of the race, the #45 Toyota looked fresher and faster as Reddick methodically closed the gap between him and Larson. However, in the end, Larson prevailed, beating Reddick, who came in second. Sharing his frustration, Reddick said, “Second sucks, that is for sure. You have to run up front all day long, and when asked about what we need to do to get better, that’s the very thing, and we didn’t do it. We were pretty evenly matched, so I don’t know if there was anything that I really could’ve done to get around him.” 

While he gave props to Larson for his spectacular run, saying, “Kyle did a really good job there taking away pretty much every option I had there to close the gap,” the 23XI Racing driver also relayed his displeasure – “He would have had to make a big mistake or had some traffic kind of knock his wind around. It’s a solid effort for our team, that’s how we need to run, but I don’t like running second.”

READ MORE: 2024 Pennzoil 400: Kyle Larson Reigns Over Victory Lane as Kyle Busch Fumbles the Bag at Las Vegas Home Track

After coming to close to a P1 finish, Tyler Reddick will surely be looking forward to make it happen the next time. Do you think he’ll do it at Phoenix next weekend?