NASCAR at Kansas 2021 Results: Kyle Larson Picks Up 9th Win of Season

Kyle Larson is having a season for the ages.

For the ninth time this season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver crossed the checkered flag first, winning Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at the Kansas Speedway.

Chase Elliott finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.

Larson has now won three straight races and four of the past six during the playoff period. It's his second three-win streak of the season, the first time that's been done since Dale Earnhardt pulled off the trick in 1987.

He remains the only driver to have clinched a berth in the Championship 4 heading into the final NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 playoff race next Sunday at the Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC).

The win came 17 years to the day that a Hendrick plane crash killed all 10 people aboard the vessel, including Rick Hendrick's son, Ricky. Larson drives the same No. 5 car that Ricky Hendrick drove during his career.

"I didn't ever get to meet Ricky or the other men and women who lost their lives that day," Larson said after the race. "But I felt the importance of this race. So crazy how it all worked out for me to win. So again, thank you to Rick Hendrick, I know this means a lot to you and I'm glad I could get it done."

Larson has dominated the 550-horsepower races this season, though Sunday was the final race of the season under that classification.

Very little has gotten in Larson's way. That included a 15-minute weather delay Sunday and his teammate Elliott trying to track him down in the waning moments of the race.

All that's really left for Larson to do this year is win the NASCAR Cup Series, like Elliott did last year. At this point, who is going to bet against him?