Chris Graythen/Getty Images

NASCAR All-Star Race 2021 Results: Kyle Larson Continues Hot Streak with Win

Joseph Zucker

Kyle Larson's hot streak continues as he held off Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott to win the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

He's also $1 million richer after cashing in on the lucrative purse.

Larson's three victories are tied for most in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he was riding a two-race winning streak into Fort Worth. The 28-year-old also won the All-Star Race in 2019 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so he was one of the top drivers to watch.

Larson justified the hype by running near the top of the pack for the bulk of the race.

Here are the winners from the first five stages:

The All-Star Race was devised almost explicitly to create as much drama and intrigue as possible. The stage breaks not only offered the drivers a chance to reset a bit but also reshuffled the running order to varying degrees.

Larson, for example, took the first round and got bumped back to 12th for his efforts after the leaderboard was inverted from Nos. 1-12 for the next round.

The order for the start of the fifth round was determined by how the drivers had finished the preceding four rounds, thus requiring some math on the fly.

Elliott's pit crew collected a $100,000 prize with the fastest pit stop between the fifth and sixth rounds. All 21 drivers were required to pit and receive four tires, and the No. 9 car got back out before anyone else.

The event culminated in a 10-lap sprint to Victory Lane.

Ryan Blaney came firing out of the gates on the inside and briefly led after the sixth round started. But Elliott surged past him on the outside with a little help from Larson drafting behind.

Like Blaney, Keselowski took the inside line to move past Elliott and Larson and into first.

And as with Blaney, Keselowski struggled to get clear of Larson and quickly handed the lead back to the No. 5 car. As the race got into the last few laps, the outcome wasn't much in doubt. Larson remained glued to the inside line, providing Keselowski with no path forward.

"Finishing second to the Hendrick cars right now is kind of an accomplishment," Keselowski said in his post-race interview. "They're just stupid fast."

Because of the race's structure, it's difficult for any one driver to dominate from start to finish. Having said that, Larson was the strongest in the field and more than earned the checkered flag.

With the All-Star Race in the books, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway for the Ally 400. This is the series' first trip to Nashville since 1984, which was long before the construction of the superspeedway in 2001.

Larson has to lose at some point, so going four in a row will be difficult. On Sunday, he at least demonstrated why he might be the man to unseat Elliott as the series champion.

   

Read 0 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)