Larson wins at Talladega as NASCAR lead stands at 73 points
William Byron finished 0.041 seconds behind Kyle Larson in the YellaWood 500, with two races remaining in the season.
A final-lap recovery gave Kyle Larson victory in the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, leaving him 73 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings. Larson edged William Byron by 0.041 seconds.
Austin Hill passed Larson along the backstretch on the last lap, and Larson dropped out of the top five as he exited turn 4. With drafting support unraveling for the cars ahead, a push by Ross Chastain allowed Larson to charge back into contention and reach the finish first.
Behind runner-up Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. claimed third, with Chastain fourth and Cole Custer fifth. Sixth went to Carson Hocevar, followed by Todd Gilliland in seventh. Hamlin was eighth, ahead of Alex Bowman in ninth and Michael McDowell in 10th.
The race also included two major wrecks. Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were among those involved on Lap 132. The later crash, on Lap 183, left Joey Logano's car overturned and sent Riley Herbst into the inside wall, prompting a red flag. NASCAR said all the drivers involved had left their vehicles.
The remaining championship races will be held at Martinsville on Nov. 1 and Homestead on Nov. 8.
