June 13, 2021 | By Lee Spencer

Kyle Larson continues his winning streak in NASCAR's All-Star Race

Kyle Larson might have to change his Yung Money moniker to Big Money.

On Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, the 28-year-old won his second NASCAR All-Star Race and collected $1million for the victory.

Larson led the final eight laps en route to his third-consecutive Cup win and fourth overall in 2021.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said. “That second run there, we were really bad and I was like, ‘man, we’re in trouble.' I went backward that round, so I was like we’ve got an uphill battle. I did not imagine seeing myself winning this race today.

“Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody works so hard on this thing and made some good adjustments throughout the first, second, and third rounds and got us in position.”

In addition to Larson, the top seven finishers were from either Hendrick Motorsports or Team Penske. Brad Keselowski finished second followed by Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, and William Byron. Aric Almirola, who transferred from the All-Star Open, finished eighth with Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch rounding out the top 10.

The Hendrick Motorsports domination continued with all four drivers leading laps and winning rounds. Byron led the most laps—24.

Christopher Bell triggered the first caution with a spin on Lap 1. Larson won the first round on Lap 15. NASCAR inverted the top 12 turning over the lead to Blaney, who held on to win Round 2. After the entire field was inverted, Bowman wheeled the No. 48 Chevy from 17th to score the Round 3 win. NASCAR inverted nine drivers to start Round 4, which put Byron at the point on Lap 45. He held serve throughout the 15-lap segment for the win before NASCAR set the field to start Round 5 according to the best average finish in the first four rounds. Byron retained the lead with Larson lining up alongside for the restart.

Round 5 was the only segment that required a green-flag stop. Byron held the lead until all four Hendrick cars came to pit on Lap 76. Before they could cycle out, Ryan Newman punted Ross Chastain to ignite the sixth caution on Lap 79. Keselowski, who beat the HMS cars off of pit road, assumed the lead. But his advantage was short-lived as Elliott, the first Hendrick Chevy out of the pits, passed Keselowski on Lap 80. Elliott held on to win Round 5.

Elliott led the field for the final round on Lap 90—a 10-lap shootout—with Byron, Larson, Blaney, Keselowski, Logano, Denny Hamlin, Bowman, and Kurt Busch in tow. As the Hendrick cars battled among themselves, Keselowski was able to return to the lead. But as he challenged Elliott on the inside, Larson went high and around his teammate on the top.

As Larson took the lead with eight laps remaining, Keselowski tried every tool in his arsenal but couldn’t catch the No. 5 Chevy.

“It feels like running second to the Hendrick cars right now is an accomplishment,” Keselowski said. “They are just stupid fast. I had him off Turn 4 but they just have so much speed. He just motored right back by me, like damn! It feels like a first-in-class day with the Discount Tire Ford.

“The team did a great job of executing and getting us in position, we just didn’t have enough speed to make the most of it. It was good execution day though and I am proud of that.”

Coming to the white flag, Larson ducked to the inside on the backstretch. He broke Keselowski’s draft then extended his lead to .206-seconds at the checkered flag.

“That last restart worked out exactly how I needed it to,” Larson said. “I wanted Chase (Elliott) to not get a good run down the back. Thankfully, I think the No. 12 (Blaney) got to his inside. I just shoved him down the back and he probably thought I was going to just follow him.

I thought there had to be enough grip above where we’d been running for one corner. It was a little slick up there, but I was able to get it and hold him off from there. I can’t believe it.”

Kyle Larson might have to change his Yung Money moniker to Big Money.

On Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, the 28-year-old won his second NASCAR All-Star Race and collected a $1million for the victory.

Larson led the final eight laps en route to his third-consecutive Cup win and fourth overall in 2021.

“Honestly, I can’t believe it,” Larson said. “That second run there, we were really bad and I was like, ‘man, we’re in trouble’. I went backwards that round, so I was like we’ve got an uphill battle. I did not imagine seeing myself winning this race today.

“Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody works so hard on this thing and made some good adjustments throughout the first, second and third rounds and got us in position.”

In addition to Larson, the top seven finishers were from either Hendrick Motorsports or Team Penske. Brad Keselowski finished second followed by Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman and William Byron. Aric Almirola, who transferred from the All-Star Open, finished eighth with Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch rounding out the top 10.

The Hendrick Motorsports domination continued with all four drivers leading laps and winning rounds. Byron led the most laps—24.

Christopher Bell triggered the first caution with a spin on Lap 1. Larson won the first round on Lap 15. NASCAR inverted the top 12 turning over the lead to Blaney, who held on to win Round 2. After the entire field was inverted, Bowman wheeled the No. 48 Chevy from 17th to score the Round 3 win. NASCAR inverted nine drivers to start Round 4, which put Byron at the point on Lap 45. He held serve throughout the 15-lap segment for the win, before NASCAR set the field to start Round 5 according to the best average finish in the first four rounds. Byron retained the lead with Larson lining up along side for the restart.

Round 5 was the only segment that required a green-flag stop. Byron held the lead until all four Hendrick cars came to pit on Lap 76. Before they could cycle out, Ryan Newman punted Ross Chastain to ignite the sixth caution on Lap 79. Keselowski, who beat the HMS cars off of pit road, assumed the lead. But his advantage was short-lived as Elliott, the first Hendrick Chevy out of the pits, passed Keselowski on Lap 80. Elliott held on to win Round 5.

Elliott led the field for the final round on Lap 90—a 10-lap shootout—with Byron, Larson, Blaney, Keselowski, Logano, Denny Hamlin, Bowman and Kurt Busch in tow. As the Hendrick cars battled among themselves, Keselowski was able to return to the lead. But as he challenged Elliott on the inside, Larson went high and around his teammate on the top.

As Larson took the lead with eight laps remaining, Keselowski tried every tool in his arsenal but couldn’t catch the No. 5 Chevy.

“It feels like running second to the Hendrick cars right now is an accomplishment,” Keselowski said. “They are just stupid fast. I had him off Turn 4 but they just have so much speed. He just motored right back by me, like damn! It feels like a first-in-class day with the Discount Tire Ford.

“The team did a great job of executing and getting us in position, we just didn’t have enough speed to make the most of it. It was good execution day though and I am proud of that.”

Coming to the white flag, Larson ducked to the inside on the backstretch. He broke Keselowski’s draft then extended his lead to .206-seconds at the checkered flag.

“That last restart worked out exactly how I needed it to,” Larson said. “I wanted Chase (Elliott) to not get a good run down the back. Thankfully, I think the No. 12 (Blaney) got to his inside. I just shoved him down the back and he probably thought I was going to just follow him.

I thought there had to be enough grip above where we’d been running for one corner. It was a little slick up there, but I was able to get it and hold him off from there. I can’t believe it.”