NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson wins 2019 Drydene 400

Kyle Larson ended a 75-race NASCAR Cup Series win drought by winning the playoff race at Dover International Speedway, the Drydene 400.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson entered the second round of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with a boatload of second place finishes and should-be race wins in the last two-plus years since he last won a race at Richmond Raceway to close out the 2017 regular season.

But he ended his 75-race win drought by winning the opening race of the round of 12 at Dover International Speedway, the Drydene 400.

This victory is Larson’s sixth career victory and first playoff victory, and it marks not only his but Chip Ganassi Racing’s first advancement to the round of 8.

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Larson started this 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Monster Mile oval in Dover, Delaware on the front row in second place in his #42 Chevrolet, and he won it by 1.578 seconds over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the winner of the May race at the track, in second in his #19 Toyota.

Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman, who finished in second place in the May race at the track, finished in third in his #88 Chevrolet. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick was the highest finishing Ford driver of this race. He finished in fourth in his #4 Ford, just like he did in May.

The same drivers finished in the top four in both races at the track, as Larson finished in third place five months ago. Race polesitters finished in fifth in both races as well (Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott in May).

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch finishes in fifth and sixth place in their #18 Toyota and #11 Toyota, respectively. Leavine Family Racing’s Matt DiBenedetto finished in seventh in his #95 Toyota.

Rounding out the top 10 in eighth, ninth and 10th place were Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kurt Busch and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Clint Bowyer in their #48 Chevrolet, #1 Chevrolet and #14 Ford, respectively.

This race featured 14 lead changes among nine drivers. Aside of Larson, who led 154 laps of the race, eight drivers led at least one lap. Those drivers were Truex, Hamlin, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Wood Brothers Racing’s Paul Menard, Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Daniel Suarez and Germain Racing’s Ty Dillon.

Hamlin led more laps than anybody else in the field with 218 laps led after starting from the pole position. He won stage one before Truex won stage two.

The race featured only three caution flag periods, none of which for wrecks — also similar to the May race at the track. The first was a debris caution early in the first stage, and the other two were the planned cautions to end stages one and two.

Mechanical issues hampered the hopes of three playoff drivers: Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney along with Elliott. Of the 38 drivers who started the race, 34 finished it and eight finished on the lead lap. Logano finished it, but he finished 25 laps off the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway.

NOTE: Round of 12 playoff drivers are listed in italics.

Race Results
1st – Kyle Larson
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Alex Bowman
4th – Kevin Harvick
5th – Denny Hamlin
6th – Kyle Busch
7th – Matt DiBenedetto
8th – Jimmie Johnson
9th – Kurt Busch
10th – Clint Bowyer
11th – Brad Keselowski
12th – Paul Menard
13th – William Byron
14th – Daniel Suarez
15th – Erik Jones
16th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17th – Aric Almirola
18th – Austin Dillon
19th – Ryan Preece
20th – Darrell Wallace Jr.
21st – Daniel Hemric
22nd – Ryan Newman
23rd – Ty Dillon
24th – Michael McDowell
25th – Matt Tifft
26th – Landon Cassill
27th – David Ragan
28th – Corey LaJoie
29th – B.J. McLeod
30th – Joe Nemechek
31st – Ross Chastain
32nd – J.J. Yeley
33rd – Garrett Smithley
34th – Joey Logano
35th – Ryan Blaney
36th – Chris Buescher
37th – Reed Sorenson
38th – Chase Elliott

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The second race of the round of 12 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is the 1000Bulbs.com 500, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, October 13 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.

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