The checkered flag is out at Kansas Speedway and there was a lot going on today. If the first stage was any indication, it looked like it was going to be yet another dominant outing for Toyota and, more specifically, Denny Hamlin. He led 75 laps of the opening stage and went on to win it in dominating fashion. But Kyle Larson wasn’t convinced that a Denny victory was a foregone conclusion. Just like the driver of the No. 11 did in the first stage, Kyle Larson rocketed out front to begin the second stage and went on to win in dominating fashion as Hamlin ran 2nd. It was clear that the final stage was shaping up to be a cat-and-mouse game between the two modern NASCAR greats, a true battle of the gladiators.
In the end, though, it was Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick who used short pitting to gain the lead and battled it out amongst themselves. Reddick had slightly fresher tires than Hamlin and took the race lead with 9 laps to go. However, low on fuel, the No. 45 sputtered and Hamlin retook the lead. They were coming to take the white flag when Cody Ware spun, bringing out the first caution for cause of the race. On the restart, Hamlin had a great jump but no one to push. Larson dive-bombed the 11 going into Turn 1 to briefly take the race lead. But Reddick battled back hard on the outside. Reddick regained the lead on the last lap to score the victory, his 5th of the year.
Here’s everything that you need to know heading out of Kansas this week.
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