NASCAR: Kyle Larson did something no driver had ever done before

Kyle Larson’s second straight dominant victory on Sunday afternoon at Sonoma Raceway marked a first in NASCAR Cup Series history.

For the second consecutive weekend, it was Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson who dominated a NASCAR Cup Series race en route to taking the checkered flag.

Two Sundays ago, he won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and this past Sunday, he won the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway.

This marked the first time in Larson’s career that he won back-to-back races. His victories were his second and third victories of the season and the eighth and ninth victories of his Cup Series career.

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Larson led 327 of the Coca-Cola 600’s 400 laps around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Concord, North Carolina, and he led 57 of the Toyota Save Mart 350’s 92 laps around the 12-turn, 2.52-mile (4.056-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Sonoma, California.

Through 16 races on the 2021 schedule, Larson is one of two drivers who has won three races. His first victory of the season came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in early March, and the only other driver with three wins so far this year is Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who won at Phoenix Raceway in March, Martinsville Speedway in April and Darlington Raceway in May.

But with his Toyota Save Mart 350 victory, Larson solidified something that no other driver had ever pulled off before.

Larson won two consecutive races, and he won all of the stages in both of those races.

Stage racing was introduced in 2017, and while we have seen drivers sweep stages and win races as well as win multiple races in a row, we had never before seen a driver sweep the stages in consecutive races and win both events.

Now we have.

And Larson pulled it off in two of the toughest races on the schedule. The Coca-Cola 600 is the only race on the schedule with four stages, and road course races such as the Toyota Save Mart 350 typically present strategic opportunities that almost guarantee a driver doesn’t sweep the first two stages and win the race.

Larson won the first three stages of the Coca-Cola 600 before winning the race itself, and he won the first two stages of the Toyota Save Mart 350 before winning the race itself. He won both races ahead of teammate Chase Elliott in second place, scoring a perfect 70 points at Charlotte Motor Speedway and a perfect 60 points at Sonoma Raceway.

Interestingly, Elliott was the most recent winner at the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval prior to Larson’s win there, and through 12 road course races of the stage racing era prior to Larson’s win at Sonoma Raceway, the reigning series champion was the only driver to sweep the first two stages and win a road course race. He pulled that off at Watkins Glen International in August 2019.

Will Larson continue his momentum in the next points-paying race on the schedule on Sunday, June 20? This race, the Ally 400, is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Nashville Superspeedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.

But before that, the NASCAR All-Star Race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 13, and it is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from Texas Motor Speedway beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The All-Star Open is set to precede this event, with live coverage set to begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on the same network.