Although the finish wasn’t as dramatic as it was last Spring, Kyle Larson still managed to find himself parked in Victory Lane at the end of the afternoon, dominating the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver went on a historically dominant run on Sunday, leading a race-high 221 of 267 laps – the most laps ever led in a NASCAR Cup Series event at Kansas Speedway – en route to his third victory of the season and the 32nd of his career.
By leading 221 laps Sunday at Kansas, Larson also eclipsed the mark of 10,000 laps led in the NASCAR Cup Series, becoming just the 22nd driver in series history to do so, and the third active full-time driver, as well, joining Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
“I was trying really hard to pace myself because that was our longest run of the day, and I had just been struggling at the end of the runs,” Larson said post-race. “Chase [Elliott] was really good, and so I felt like I needed to just try to be better on my end, and I don’t know if it was paying off or not.”
Things did end up getting tense in the final moments of Sunday’s event, as Larson looked to be slowing down the backstretch on the final lap, which allowed second and third-place drivers Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney to dramatically close the gap.
When the checkered flag dropped, Bell finished in the runner-up position, just 0.712 seconds behind Larson, while Ryan Blaney, chasing them both from third place, finished 0.832 seconds behind the eventual race-winner.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NCS AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway
“I was still struggling, I don’t know if the right front was starting to wear a lot, or what, but I was starting to lose a lot of grip and then I was vibrating real bad, so I was afraid that a right rear or something would let go,” Larson added. “Great car, great execution today for our team.”
Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney ended up finishing second and third, with Chase Briscoe finishing fourth, matching his best finish with Joe Gibbs Racing in the No. 19 Toyota Camry XSE. Alex Bowman had a strong car all afternoon and came home with a top five.
After starting shotgun on the field, Josh Berry managed to bring his Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang back to a sixth-place finish, while RFK Racing teammates Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher brought home finishes of seventh and eighth.
Joey Logano faded from a spot inside the top-three late in the event to finish ninth, while John Hunter Nemechek scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the second time this season, rounding out the top-10.
Corey Heim, making his first of four scheduled NASCAR Cup Series starts for 23XI Racing, brought the No. 67 Toyota Camry XSE home in 13th-place, finishing on the lead lap and mixing it up with several regulars in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Like during Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions, tire issues were a main topic of discussion on Sunday, with a pair of issues derailing solid efforts for drivers running inside the top-10.
Early on in the race, William Byron was running inside the top-five when the right-rear tire on his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet sent him into the outside wall, damaging his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and impacting his afternoon dramatically. Byron ended up 24th, one lap down.
Brad Keselowski also was impacted by a flat right-rear tire late in the going on Sunday, with the RFK Racing co-owner having a fantastic run, sitting second and approaching a battle for the race-lead, when his race ended with wall contact. Keselowski finished a dismal 37th.
With his victory, Kyle Larson catapults into the points lead in the NASCAR Cup Series, pacing the field by 35 points over William Byron. Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top five in point standings.
Up next for the NASCAR Cup Series is a trip to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the NASCAR All-Star Race, with coverage of the event on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, May 18 at 8:00 PM ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
