CHICAGO – Kyle Larson’s stealthy summer surge continued with a fourth-place finish in the NASCAR Cup Series’ first-ever street race in Chicago.
The 30-year-old driver was in the top 10 for nearly the entirety of the race. He spent all but two of the 78 laps in the top 15, according to NASCAR’s loop data. After finishing seventh in the opening stage, Larson’s car came on strong once the team put on slick tires. He drove up to second in the second segment to earn a total of 13 stage points on the day. After pitting under yellow on lap 47, the Elk Grove, California, native restarted 13th and worked his way both into the top 10 and the top five over the final stage.
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"I was trying to get my confidence built up while it was wet and I knew as long as it didn’t rain, it was eventually going to dry out," Larson said of his thought process in the early part of the race. "Just didn’t want to hurt my car in the wet and tried to maintain the best I could, which we did. As soon as the lanes started to dry out, we were much better than the people braking. We just had a lot more confidence than the people braking around me.
"A great points day for our team and we needed that."
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The result extended Larson’s season-best top-10 streak to four races – only Kyle Busch has a longer active streak in the series at six races. Larson’s last four races have seen him total three top-five finishes – tied with three other drivers including teammate Chase Elliott for the most in that span. His average finish (5.3) and points scored (144) are each the third-most in the series during that time.
The Elk Grove, California, native leads the series in top-five finishes (eight) and is tied for fourth in top-10s (nine). With two wins (at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway), Larson is locked into the playoffs for the third straight season.