CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Larson tallied his fifth win of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday at Watkins Glen International, marking his second road course win of this season.
The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE fought hard against some of the best road course racers, including reigning Watkins Glen winner and teammate Chase Elliott, who has six road course victories under his belt.
“Chase was already catching me pretty quick, even with me being in open track,” Larson said. “So, when I caught those, I think, four cars and got into the No. 38 right here, I thought I would look at my mirror and the No. 9 would be right on me. Thankfully, (I) had a comfortable enough gap to where I could make a mistake like that.”
Larson took the lead on lap 65 after a flawless pit stop on lap 57 that put him back on the racetrack ahead of the leader, who had also pitted on the same lap. No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels made the call to pit under green, knowing his team has had strong performances all year. The No. 5 pit crew currently leads the Cup Series with an average four-tire pit stop time of 13.66 seconds.
“Our pit crew has been phenomenal all year,” Daniels said. “I am so proud of those guys and the work they put in. They don’t take anything lightly. If they miss something here and there, they go back and study and learn and try to get better. We have great coaches back at the shop that have just been doing a great job with those guys. … Days like (Sunday) are great, but we have to keep them going and we still have a long way to go.”
With the win, Larson and the No. 5 team surpassed Denny Hamlin in the points standings with three races left in the regular season. While both drivers are tied in points, Larson holds the lead due to his five points-paying Cup Series wins.
“I want everybody to race me hard,” Larson said. “(Hamlin) ran me really hard at Road America and put me in a couple bad spots to where I almost ended up in the grass or if I didn't lift, I was going to send him spinning. So, then I knew points were on his mind and (he) trying to hold me back is definitely on his mind. … I'm glad there's a fun little regular season point battle, and I feel like in years past it's kind of been a blowout come the last race of the points. But yeah, to be tied with three races left is pretty cool.”
Be sure to tune in this Sunday, Aug. 15, at 1 p.m. ET on NBC to see if Larson and the No. 5 team can extend their points lead for the inaugural race at the Indianapolis Road Couse.