AP Photo/John Amis

NASCAR at Nashville 2021 Results: Kyle Larson Dominates, Wins 3rd Straight Race

Scott Polacek

Kyle Larson just keeps winning.

Larson won the first Cup Series race in Nashville since 1984 and the inaugural Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway during Sunday's 2021 Ally 400, outpacing Ross Chastain and the rest of the field. 

There wasn't much doubt about the outcome throughout the race, as he sprinted out to the lead in the early going, won the second stage and then managed during the third stage to complete another dominant performance.

It was fitting since the biggest storyline coming into Sunday's race was whether Larson would win for the fourth straight time counting the All-Star race. He won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway and the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Sean Montgomery of NASCAR.com noted Larson entered the Ally 400 a mere 190 laps away from his most-ever laps led for a single season, which is quite remarkable considering this was just race No. 17 out of 36.

Yet Larson and the rest of the field started behind Aric Almirola, who won the pole position and started just ahead of second-place starter Kyle Busch.

There were some developments in the first stage when Tyler Reddick spun out exiting pit road and Ryan Blaney's day came to an early end when he hit the wall. Justin Haley and Chris Buescher also hit the wall on the same turn at almost identical times, leading to a late caution in the stage.

While Larson continued his recent streak of impressive racing by battling Busch and jumping out to an early lead, Chase Elliott took advantage of that late caution and won the first stage.

It wasn't long before Larson re-established himself in his familiar position out in front of the pack. He reached 100 laps led during the second stage, which marked the fourth time in seven races he has led triple-digit laps.

Other than Bubba Wallace spinning out with a flat tire, there wasn't much drama in the second stage with Larson shifting into takeover mode and clinching the stage victory with relative ease.

The only question as the third stage progressed in the caution-filled race was if anyone would even challenge Larson as he set his own personal record for laps led in a season. If anything, he was battling debris on his own car more than he was the rest of the field, and even used J.J. Yeley to help remove it as he lapped the No. 51 car.

When the driver who seemingly can't lose of late is using other competitors just to remove debris from his car, there probably isn't much of a question who is going to win.

Larson cruised through the finish line and continued his mastery of the 2021 schedule.

   

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