NASCAR: Kyle Larson’s All-Star Race victory more significant than it seems

Kyle Larson’s victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race is more significant than it seems, even without factoring in the $1 million prize.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson earned $1 million by winning the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race for the first time in his Cup Series career this past Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But while all victories, even in non-points-paying races, in the Cup Series are hard to come by and certainly worth earning, Larson’s victory in this 88-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway oval in Concord, North Carolina is more significant than it seems — even without factoring in the $1 million he won because of it.

No Cup Series race has been won by a Chevrolet driver other than Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott since Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon kicked off the 2018 season by winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

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From that race until now, 47 races have been contested, and Elliott has delivered Chevrolet their only four victories, which were the first four victories of his Cup Series career, in that span.

Of course, the All-Star Race is not a full-length race, and it is considered an exhibition race.

On top of that, only 19 drivers competed in it, and Larson’s victory doesn’t officially count as a “Cup Series victory”. In other words, he entered it with five career Cup Series victories, he won the race, and he still has five career Cup Series victories to his name.

But despite all of this, you can bet that this race was just as challenging to win as any other race on the schedule, especially with what was on the line. Every one of these 19 drivers was giving it their all to win the $1 million prize, and let’s be honest; rarely do we see races where more than half of 19 drivers even have a decent chance at winning anyway, so it’s not like the fact that several drivers were missing from the field helped Larson win.

As strange as it may sound, Larson’s victory in a non-points-paying and shortened race may be the boost that Chevrolet needs to finally get back to their winning ways.

The fact that, of all drivers, the 26-year-old Elk Grove, California native actually hung on to win this race given his recent struggles to hold on to late leads is a great sign for the manufacturer, especially after the success that Chevrolet had as a whole in the most recent points-paying race at a 1.5-mile track (Kansas Speedway) almost two weeks ago.

Chevrolet drivers have won just five of the 58 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races that have been contested since Kyle Larson earned his most recent victory in a points-paying race, the 2017 regular season finale, at Richmond Raceway, whereas Toyota drivers have won 28 of these races and Ford drivers have won the other 25.

But Chevrolet drivers have come close to winning several more of them, especially recently, and Larson’s victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway may just be the victory that gives them the boost they need to finally get over the hump and to consistently start winning.

Will a Chevrolet driver win this Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Coca-Cola 600? Tune in to Fox at 6:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the race to find out.