CP MOTORSPORTS - LARSON BATTLES TO THE FINISH FOR WIN IN XFINITY FINALE
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Kyle Larson hasn't visited victory lane in the Sprint Cup series yet but those who follow the sport know, it's only a matter of time.
Larson gained valuable experience during Saturday's Ford EcoBoost 300 from Homestead-Miami Speedway. Larson led 118 laps but fought at the end to regain the lead. The break for Larson came when then leader Austin Dillon appeared to make contact with the wall in the race's waning laps.
Larson seemed to be the only driver who could find success in the track's high line, which is one of the many reasons which it's Larson's favorite track on the schedule.
"This is definitely my favorite racetrack on the circuit by fashion, at least for the XFINITY Series goes," Larson said. "I was close to winning my rookie season here in 2013, about 50 foot short of winning it last year, and then this year once again we had a really fast car and was able to lead the most laps again and almost gave it away again on a late-race restart. I was pretty frustrated with myself with 12 or so laps to go when Austin was about half a straightaway in front of me and I didn't even know if I could get to third, really.
"I was surprised that those guys up in front of me didn't get to the wall where I had been running the whole race, and once the tires kind of slowed down, I was able to close very quickly on those guys and get to Austin's back bumper and kind of put a little pressure on him to make a mistake there because he knew he had to move up and try and take my line away and do it really fast."
Dillon managed to grab the second place finish despite his brush with the wall. The runner up finish serves as the 16th time Dillon has finished in the top ten this season. The former Xfinity series champion believes Richard Childress Racing's Xfinity series program has really stepped up to the plate in 2015.
"We've had a really solid year in the XFINITY Series," Dillon said. "The 33 team at the beginning of the year I thought we'd have a great shot at the Owner's Championship, as fast as we were, and really we blew up a motor at California and that kind of put us behind. We finished 43rd there and a few other misfortunate events happened.
"But I am looking forward to next year, for going for an Owner's Championship. I think we've got a good lineup for next year, and what our plans are."
Camping World Truck Series champion Erik Jones drove his No. 20 Gamestop Toyota to a third place finish in his first ever Xfinity start at Miami-Homestead Speedway. Jones was followed by Brian Scott who finished in fourth place.
Ryan Blaney finished in fifth with Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon, Chase Elliott, Regan Smith and Darrell Wallace, Jr, rounding out the top ten finishers.
Chris Buescher finished in 11th place which secured the Xfinity series championship for his team. The championship for the No. 60 team is the first for Roush Fenway Racing since Ricky Stenhouse, Jr's 2012 campaign.
Daniel Suarez locked himself into position as the Xfinity series Rookie of the Year with his sixth place finish. The driver of the No. 18 Arris Toyota believes he reached his goals this season.
"It's been a long journey so far, but a very fun one," Suarez said. "This 2015 we had as a goal early on in the year to try to get the Rookie of the Year and try to be strong, trying to learn and trying to be contending for some wins. We didn't win but we were close several times. We ran in the front."
NASCAR XFINITY Series Race Number 33
Unofficial Race Results for the 21St Annual Ford Ecoboost 300 - Saturday,
November 21, 2015
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300 Miles - Purse: $1,462,501
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 9 42 Kyle Larson(i) Crest Chevrolet 200 0 146.3 $85,343 Running 6 118
2 3 33 Austin Dillon(i) Rheem Chevrolet 200 0 118.8 $62,858 Running 1 16
3 7 20 Erik Jones(i) Gamestop/Star Wars Battlefront Toyota 200 0 115.6 $57,863 Running 1 1
4 4 2 Brian Scott Shore Lodge Chevrolet 200 40 106.6 $48,941 Running
5 5 22 Ryan Blaney Hertz Ford 200 39 107.0 $42,390 Running
6 2 18 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 200 38 105.5 $37,076 Running
7 10 3 Ty Dillon Yuengling Light Lager Chevrolet 200 37 93.2 $32,254 Running
8 13 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 200 36 94.1 $32,524 Running
9 14 7 Regan Smith TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 200 35 94.7 $30,930 Running
10 21 6 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Roush Performance Products Ford 200 34 83.2 $33,365 Running
11 11 60 Chris Buescher Fastenal Ford 200 33 86.8 $29,785 Running
12 6 98 Aric Almirola(i) Carroll Shelby Engine Company Ford 199 0 94.2 $23,580 Running
13 8 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Ford 199 31 81.2 $29,229 Running
14 16 39 Ryan Sieg UncleBob'sSelfStorage/PullAPart Chev 199 30 83.8 $28,918 Running
15 19 43 Dakoda Armstrong WinField Ford 199 29 73.6 $29,156 Running
16 20 01 Landon Cassill Florida Lottery Chevrolet 199 28 67.7 $28,846 Running
17 17 16 Ryan Reed Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford 199 27 72.8 $28,459 Running
18 25 8 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection Toyota 199 26 60.5 $28,323 Running
19 24 4 Ross Chastain # Corporate Caterers/Watermelon.org Chevrolet 199 25 66.2 $28,161 Running
20 18 88 Ben Rhodes Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet 198 24 71.0 $28,550 Running
21 15 28 JJ Yeley JGL Racing Toyota 198 23 63.3 $27,940 Running
22 22 51 Jeremy Clements AllSouthElectric/RepairableVehicles Chev 198 22 61.3 $27,825 Running
23 12 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Chevrolet 198 21 69.8 $27,687 Running
24 28 0 Harrison Rhodes # Corporate Caterers Chevrolet 197 20 54.1 $27,576 Running
25 33 44 David Starr Zachry Toyota 197 19 56.3 $27,565 Running
26 26 97 Mason Mingus(i) VroomBrands Chevrolet 195 0 50.8 $27,304 Running
27 30 55 Anthony Kumpen Nexteer Automotive/LeasePlan Chevrolet 193 17 45.2 $21,193 Running
28 34 70 Garrett Smithley(i) Segpay/E-hydrate Chevrolet 192 0 43.7 $21,072 Running
29 36 24 Eric McClure Reynolds Wrap Toyota 190 15 42.5 $26,921 Running
30 1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Monster Energy Toyota 185 0 117.1 $28,110 Accident 5 64
31 37 40 Josh Reaume # Braille Battery/Grafoids Chevrolet 185 13 37.4 $20,679 Running
32 29 52 Joey Gase Ole Country/DB Sales Company Chevrolet 180 12 45.3 $26,568 Ignition
33 40 74 Tim Viens(i) RaceDaySponsor.com Dodge 156 0 32.8 $26,528 Running
34 31 90 Mario Gosselin BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet 88 10 44.2 $26,466 Suspension
35 39 13 Derek White Mohawk Market Dodge 81 9 33.3 $26,416 Engine
36 38 15 Carlos Contreras bybextreme.com Chevrolet 59 8 28.8 $24,246 Engine
37 23 14 Mike Bliss Toyota 44 8 1 39.5 $23,246 Vibration 1 1
38 32 92 BJ McLeod(i) BuckedUp Apparel Chevrolet 36 0 26.8 $16,246 Vibration
39 35 26 TJ Bell(i) JGL Racing Toyota 23 0 30.2 $15,246 Vibration
40 27 19 Jeff Green Premier Barter Exchange Toyota 3 4 23.2 $14,246 Transmission
Race Comments: Kyle Larson won the Ford EcoBoost 300, his third career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field: No. 97 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (1) 89 Morgan Shepherd.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 20 Mins, 20 Secs. Average Speed: 128.266 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.934 Seconds
Caution Flags: 6 for 26 laps: Laps: 11-13 (#74 Spin Turn 1 [None]); 27-30 (Competition [15]); 118-122 (#40 Accident Turn 4 [2]); 142-146 (Weather Turn 3 [22]); 174-179 (#44 Accident Turn 4 [18]); 182-184 (#54, 6 Accident Frontstretch [60]).
Lead Changes: 13 among 5 drivers: K. Busch(i) 1-27; M. Bliss 28; K. Busch(i) 29-30; K. Larson(i) 31-33; K. Busch(i) 34-63; K. Larson(i) 64-78; K. Busch(i) 79-81; K. Larson(i) 82-142; E. Jones(i) 143; K. Larson(i) 144-145; K. Busch(i) 146-147; K. Larson(i) 148-179; A. Dillon(i) 180-195; K. Larson(i) 196-200.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Buescher 1,190;(2) C. Elliott 1,175;(3) T. Dillon 1,172;(4) R. Smith 1,168;(5) D. Suarez # 1,078;(6) E. Sadler 1,075;(7) D. Wallace Jr. # 1,071;(8) B. Scott 1,032;(9) B. Gaughan 1,012;(10) R. Reed 902.
3M Lap Leader : Kyle Larson, #42 118 Laps Coors Light Pole Award : Kyle Busch, #54 168.14 mph
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race" : Kyle Busch, #54 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Hendrick Engines, #42
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Darrell Wallace Jr, #6 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Daniel Suarez, #18
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Feb. 20, 2016 - Daytona International Speedway
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