LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Larson’s third-place finish led the way for Hendrick Motorsports at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Monday afternoon.
After finishing the 11th in the opening stage, the driver of the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 moved into the top 10 early in stage two. By lap 100, he was in the top five – a position he would occupy for much of the rest of the race. Following a strategy call by crew chief Cliff Daniels for two-right side tires under caution on lap 164, Larson took the lead for six laps after Aric Almirola’s incident in turn two. Larson went on to finish stage two in second.
He pitted under the stage break, restarting 15th and wasted no time driving back up into the top five. Larson got up as high as second in the final stage and restarted on the inside front row next to eventual race winner Martin Truex Jr. with nine laps to go. Larson ended the day third. The top-five finish is his series-best ninth of the season, his fourth top-five in the last six races and his fifth top-10 in the last six races.
"Overall, it was a great race for the No. 5 Valvoline Chevy team," Larson said. "I think we were pretty good the whole race. The initial start didn’t work out and we just got stuck on the bottom. At the end of stage one, we were able to work our way up, and then stage two went well. The final stage went good as well. The No. 19 (Truex Jr.) was the class of the field – he definitely had the car to beat.
"All-in-all, I felt great about my car. Thank you to HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet, and to Valvoline for being on the car as a primary this week, and everyone that helps us get out on the race track each week."
Chase Elliott grinded out a 12th-place finish for the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy. Early on the 27-year-old was battling a race car that was tight across the center and loose in and off. The team wrenched on the car to make it better for their driver throughout the 301-lap event. Over the 60 laps, Elliott worked his way from 21st to 12th, narrowly missing a top=10 finish by two spots. With six regular-season races left, he is 60 points outside the provisional playoff cutline.
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Alex Bowman’s 14th-place finish came in a workman-like effort for the No. 48 Ally Racing team. The 30-year-old driver reported that his car struggled on entry at the outset and in stage two, he needed more rear grip. When a caution fell with 21 laps to go in stage two, the field embarked on a variety of strategies. Crew chief Blake Harris elected to put four tires on the No. 48 Chevy and Bowman went from 16th to seventh to score four valuable stage points. In the final stage, the Tucson, Arizona, native overcame his involvement in an incident with 20 laps to go to finish in the top 15. He is 42 points outside the provisional playoff cutline with six regular-season races to go.
In his 200th Cup Series start, William Byron started strong. He took the lead for nine laps on lap 34 and finished stage one in second. Those laps led established a new single-season career-high for Byron with 750 circuits out front in 2023. In stage two, the 25-year-old driver radioed in that was tight in the center and he also took on some right-front damage due to some contact on pit road. During the final stage, Byron told the team he was too loose and had no grip. The team ran long to see if it could flip its track position, but that did not occur. At the end of the day, he finished 24th.
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Truex Jr. won the race for his third win of the 2023 season. He is one of four multi-time winners in the series this season, a club of which Byron (four wins) and Larson (two wins) are also part of.
Larson’s top-five finish at New Hampshire extended the organization’s streak of points-paying races with a top-five finish to 10. This run started at Dover Motor Speedway in May and has surpassed the mark of nine that the team hit last spring (from Atlanta Motor Speedway in March to Kansas Speedway in May).
The New Hampshire race was originally scheduled for Sunday, but inclement weather pushed the event back one day. It is the third time this season that a race was postponed from Sunday to Monday (Dover and Charlotte Motor Speedway in May).
Next up on the Cup Series schedule is "The Tricky Triangle" of Pocono Raceway. The 21st points-paying race of the season will take place on Sunday, July 23, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).