Kyle Larson Scores Hat-Trick Win in Nashville
The last time the NASCAR Cup Series raced at Nashville Superspeedway was in 1984. After 37 years, and much demand from fans, the series finally returned to the D-shaped, 1.3-mile concrete track. The race took place in front of a sold-out crowd and provided much excitement in terms of cautions, but very little in terms of lead changes.
LAP 1: Aric Almirola won the pole position in qualifying and led the field to green. Kyle Busch, who qualified second instantly challenged Almirola and took the top spot.
CAUTION – LAP 2: The yellow flag came out before the field even got to full speed. The right-front wheel on the #00 of Quin Houff came off and caused him to slam the wall in Turn 3.
LAP 6: When the race restarted, Kyle Larson in the #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet went three-wide between Busch and Almirola and took the lead away.
CAUTION – LAP 46: During green-flag pitstops, Tyler Reddick in the #8 spun at the exit of the pit lane which brought out the yellow flag for debris. When the field reset, it was Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson making up the front row again.
CAUTION – LAP 54: The brakes gave out on the #12 of Ryan Blaney which sent him into the wall in Turn 2. Thankfully, Blaney was not injured in the crash, although he was out of the race.
CAUTION – LAP 77: The #17 of Chris Buescher hit the wall after making contact with the #77 of Justin Haley. The #9 of Chase Elliott stayed out of the pits during the caution and got the lead.
STAGE 1 END – LAP 90: Chase Elliott won the stage and picked up the much-needed playoff point. Kurt Busch, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, and Kyle Busch rounded out the Top 5 at the end of the segment. Elliott and several other drivers pitted at the break, which put Larson back in the lead to start Stage 2.
CAUTION – LAP 131: The #23 of Bubba Wallace had a tire go gown, causing him to spin in Turn 2.
CAUTION – LAP 172: The yellow flag came out for debris on the track in Turn 3.
STAGE 2 END – LAP 185: Kyle Larson won the stage and picked up his 6th playoff point in the last 9 races. Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, and Kyle Busch completed the Top 10 at the end of the stage. Larson won the of pit road and continued his dominating performance for the entire final stage.
CAUTION – LAP 196: Ryan Preece in the #37 spun in Turn 2 after making heavy contact with the SAFER barrier.
CAUTION – LAP 217: The #23 of Bubba Wallace brought out the 8th caution of the day when he got loose in Turn 2 and spun down the front straightaway.
CAUTION – LAP 226: The #14 of Chase Briscoe scraped the wall in Turn 4 and the caution was thrown for potential debris on the track.
CHECKERED FLAG – LAP 300: After leading all but 36 laps, Kyle Larson crossed the checkered flag to claim his 3rd-straight victory.
** Following the race, the #9 of Chase Elliott had 5 loose lugnut. As a result, he was disqualified and stripped of all points earned throughout the race. The loose lugnuts were attributed to a vibration that Elliott reported during the race.
RESULTS:
- Kyle Larson
- Ross Chastain
- William Byron
- Aric Almirola
- Kevin Harvick
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr
- Daniel Suarez
- Kurt Busch
- Christopher Bell
- Joey Logano
- Kyle Busch
- Austin Dillon
- Chase Elliott (Disqualified. Stage win, playoff point, and points from finishing position have been stripped)
- Ryan Newman
- Alex Bowman
- Corey LaJoie
- Michael McDowell
- Anthony Alfredo
- Tyler Reddick
- Erik Jones
- Bubba Wallace
- Denny Hamlin
- Martin Truex Je
- Brad Keselowski
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Garrett Smithley
- Josh Bilicki
- JJ Yeley
- BJ McLeod
- Joey Gase
- Cole Custer
- Chase Briscoe
- Ryan Preece
- Chad Finchum
- David Starr
- Justin Haley
- Chris Buescher
- Ryan Blaney
- Quin Houff
