Kyle Larson bowls over Chase Elliott en route to weekend sweep at Watkins Glen
Graphic courtesy Dylan Bauerle Racing
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Get the brooms out, Kyle Larson made it a clean sweep this weekend at Watkins Glen International.
Larson went back-to-back to win both Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race and Sunday’s Federated Go Bowling at The Glen NASCAR Cup Series race at the central New York State permanent road course -- the first time a driver has done the weekend sweep in seven years.
The timing could not have been more perfect.
Larson’s win comes just before the beginning of the NASCAR playoffs. The 30-year-old California native is the defending Cup Series champion and has had a good 2022 season, but wins have not been coming at the pace as they did last season.
But while there's a difference there, there's also a similarity as well.
It was Larson's win last year at The Glen that not only primed him for the playoffs, it also was the kickoff toward the championship run, as well.
Of course, by the start of last year's playoffs. Larson already had five victories (including at the Glen). Larson would go on to earn 10 wins last year, with the other half coming in the playoffs.
There’s certainly time to win more and defend the crown.
While Larson was victorious Sunday, he wasn’t exactly dominant. He led just five of 90 laps in the race. What the California native likely will mostly be remembered for on Sunday was his pass on teammate Chase Elliott for the win.
Larson forced Elliott to the outside on the final restart to take the lead, holding off A.J. Allmendinger in the closing laps to collect his second victory of the season. Yes, it's hard to believe Larson has won just two races up to this point by now, isn't it?
But Larson also knows that he likely would have not won had he not made the move on his teammate, who ended up finishing fourth.
“Knew that was kind of my only opportunity,” Larson said. “I'm not proud of it.
“But being in the inside lane or the right lane ... being the leader, choosing the left lane, it definitely wins out. But when it gets too late in the race, it's definitely risky.
“Like I said, I knew that was my only opportunity to get by him. I felt like our cars were pretty equal today. Had a lot of fun after the green flag cycle trying to chase him down. Kind of burned my stuff up a little bit.
“The restarts kept me in it and kept our team in it. Proud of our guys."
Larson celebrates his second win in just over 24 hours after winning Sunday's Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International. (Photo by Chris Owens/HHP for Chevy Racing)
For much of the first 2/3 of the race, it looked as if there might be a surprise winner, as 2020 Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell appeared to be the man to beat. But he got caught up in traffic on a couple of restarts that pushed him back.
McDowell managed to push his way back up closer to the front, but Larson was just too hard to catch or overtake.
"Good to get another win here at Watkins Glen and get some more bonus points going into the playoffs, which we haven't had many of those this year," Larson said. "Hopefully this will build on some momentum and we can keep racking up some more points.”
When asked for his thoughts following the race, Elliott did not express any anger towards Larson, but rather congratulated his teammate.
“He did a great job,” Eillott said. “Seriously, they deserve it. Looking forward to going to Daytona next week and trying to get one for our team.”
NOTES: This coming Saturday night's race at Daytona International Speedway wraps up the 26-race NASCAR Cup regular season and will set the 16-driver field for the upcoming 10-race playoffs. Speaking of the playoffs, there remains one open position. Fifteen drivers have won at least one race thus far this season. If one more driver wins for the first time this season at Daytona -- like 2012 Cup champ Brad Keselowski, who has had a terrible season in his first year as a team co-owner and driver with RFK Racing -- that would fill out the playoff field. However, if no other driver who has yet t win in 2022 fails to again win at Daytona, then Ryan Blaney would take the final playoff spot due to his consistency and high ranking in the points (second). ... However, former Cup champ Martin Truex Jr. isn't giving up in his hopes of getting his first win of the season at Daytona and knocking Blaney out while assuring his own spot in the playoffs. It's been a crazy season, for sure. Who would have predicted at the beginning of the season that guys like Truex or Keselowski would still not have won a race by now? ... Daytona will also be a very pivotal race for Kurt Busch. The 2004 Cup champ remains out on concussion protocol and will miss Saturday night's race. However, because he has a win this season, Busch is eligible for the playoffs. But if his health precludes him from participating in the opening race of the playoffs, the elder Busch brother's eligibility would be revoked and Blaney and potentially Truex would both make the playoffs. ... Lastly, former Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen had nothing to be ashamed about in his first-ever Cup race. Although his day came to an early end due to a solo crash on Lap 44 of the 90-lap event, leaving the Finnish native with a disappointing 37th-place finish in the 39-driver field, he ran a smart race, which was all the more impressive given the limited testing both on a simulator and at Virginia International Raceway in preparation for the race. But don't be surprised if this will not be a one-and-done appearance for Raikkonen. He reportedly has first dibs to race a third car for Trackhouse Racing at the 2023 season-opening Daytona 500. But if Raikkonen decides not to compete, he'll have a well-qualified back-up: four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is reportedly next in line for the Trackhouse seat, but is deferring first to Raikkonen to see what he will ultimately does.