NASCAR: Kyle Larson’s winning streak ends in dramatic fashion

Kyle Larson looked to be headed for yet another NASCAR Cup Series victory at Pocono Raceway on Saturday when things went wrong.

After a battle with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman in the closing laps of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Larson took the lead and appeared to be well on his way to yet another victory.

Larson entered this 130-lap Pocono Organics CBD 325 around the three-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania having won three consecutive points races (four consecutive races overall, including the All-Star Race).

A fourth consecutive points race win would have marked just the ninth time in the modern era (1972 to present) such a feat had been accomplished and the first since 2007.

It also would have given the driver of the #5 Chevrolet a chance to become the first driver of the modern era to win five races in a row in tomorrow afternoon’s 140-lap Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 at the Tricky Triangle.

But the 390th and final turn of this afternoon’s race had other ideas.

Between turns two and three on the 130th and final lap of the race, Larson had a sizable lead over Bowman in second place. But as he made his way into turn three, his left front tire went down, sending him into the wall.

As a result, Bowman took the lead and went on to secure his third victory in the last 10 races, bringing his career win total to five.

Larson still ended up finishing in ninth place, but it certainly wasn’t what he wanted. He hadn’t failed to win a race since finishing in second behind teammate Chase Elliott in the inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas, which was contested more than one month ago on Sunday, May 23.

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Larson had also been on a six-race streak of top two finishes. This was his first finish outside of the top two since he finished in 19th place at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 2.

As for Hendrick Motorsports, however, they still managed to walk away with their sixth consecutive victory (seventh including the All-Star Race) as well as their sixth consecutive race (seventh including the All-Star Race as well) with at least two drivers in the top three, as William Byron finished in third place.

Larson, who still leads the series with four wins so far this season, is set to go for redemption in tomorrow afternoon’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 350, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network from Pocono Raceway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.