Kyle Larson holds off Chase Elliott at Watkins Glen, grabs fifth Cup Series win of 2021

Kyle Larson had to navigate lapped traffic in the closing laps and hold off his hard-charging Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott – the track’s most prolific winner of late – to earn the victory in Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen.

But the 28-year-old Larson has been a driver to count on this season, finishing either first or second 10 times through the 23 races to date. And Sunday’s trophy at the historic Watkins Glen International road course is Larson’s NASCAR Cup Series-best fifth of the year, 11th of his career.

His 2.430-second victory over Elliott was good enough to move him into a tie with Denny Hamlin for the regular-season championship with only three races remaining before the playoffs.

It marked the eighth Hendrick Motorsports victory in the last 11 races and the fourth time Larson and Elliott have finished 1-2 – the third time at a road-course event.

Although Elliott, 25, had to settle for a runner-up showing, it was a stellar drive for the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion and two-time Watkins Glen winner. He started the race from the last row – and his crew chief Alan Gustafson was suspended – after his car failed pre-race technical inspection.

Elliott steadily made his way forward, picking off cars with each turn. And as with Larson, he had to navigate that lapped traffic in the closing laps, which essentially cost him any shot at getting close enough to his teammate to challenge for the lead.

“I made too many mistakes to get the win unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” Elliott said. “Super proud of our team. Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it.”

With three races remaining to set the playoff field, Reddick gave himself a little more cushion in that 16th and final transfer position. He improved his advantage over his Richard Childress Racing teammate, 17th-place Austin Dillon, from six points entering the race to 15 points heading to Indianapolis next week.

Brad Keselowski started from the pole and led the first nine laps before spinning out of the top spot in Turn 6. He recovered, but another brake lock-up in the final stage sent his No. 2 Team Penske Ford sliding into teammate Joey Logano’s No. 22 entry on Lap 56. Keselowski kept going and finished 35th. Logano, who started second and won Stage 1, continued and finished 22nd.

The series makes its Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course debut next Sunday with the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard (1 p.m. ET, NBC, IMS Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will mark the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has raced on the famed track’s 2.439-mile road course since it began racing at Indianapolis in 1994.

Note: Post-race inspection in the Cup Series garage was clear without major issue, confirming Larson’s victory. Two cars were found with one unsecured lug nut each — the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford of Anthony Alfredo. According to the guidelines in the NASCAR Rule Book, those infractions should result in fines for each crew chief in next week’s penalty report.