NASCAR Xfinity Series at Dover 2017 Results: Kyle Larson Notches 3rd 2017 Win
Kyle Larson picked up an emphatic victory Saturday in the NASCAR Xfinity Series' 2017 OneMain Financial 200 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.
It's the third win of the 2017 season for Larson and the eighth triumph of his Xfinity Series career. He led 137 of the 200 laps, including the first 63 and the final 54.
Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, Cole Custer and Ryan Reed rounded out the top five. William Byron, who crossed the finish line sixth, was the top finisher among the Dash 4 Cash contenders, earning him an extra $100,000.
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Post-Race Information (via NASCAR.com)
Larson started from the pole position and proceeded to dominate the opening stage. The No. 42 Ford led all 60 laps, surviving four restarts following a series of early caution flags, in one of the season's most impressive runs to date.
He nearly let it all slip away on the final lap, though. Blaney made a late surge and came within a fraction of a second from stealing the stage, but he came up painfully short.
NASCAR Xfinity highlighted the mad dash to the start/finish line:
Nick DeGroot of Motorsport.com passed along the razor-thin difference:
Larson's stretch of success carried into the early portion of the second stage. He ended up leading 83 of the first 87 laps before the race started to become more competitive.
Blaney's persistence paid of on Lap 88 as he finally got around the No. 42 machine for the lead, as showcased by Fox NASCAR:
The winner of last week's Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway paced the field for the next 28 laps but couldn't hold on until the end of the stage. Darrell Wallace Jr. grabbed the lead with four laps left and earned the stage victory, a rarity for Xfinity regulars in recent weeks.
Xfinity Racing spotlighted the more routine finish to Stage 2:
Wallace faded during the final stage, however, which set up a head-to-head duel between Larson and Blaney over the final couple of dozen laps. They opened up a more than 10-second lead on the rest of the field thanks to a long green-flag run.
Larson did a masterful job of navigating heavy lapped traffic late in the race to hold off Blaney, who finished second in all three stages.
NASCAR Xfinity provided a look at the Victory Lane celebration:
While Byron didn't get the win, he had plenty to celebrate too, as JR Motorsports pointed out:
Looking ahead, the Monster Energy Cup Series drivers continue to steal the spotlight when they drop down to take on Xfinity competition. Saturday's race did feature some more promising moments for the likes of Byron, Reed, Wallace and Cole Custer, though.
The Xfinity Series returns to action next Saturday for the Pocono Green 250 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Larson is the defending champion.
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