And just like that, Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 driver bounces back into the Championship contention! After a tumultuous round two in the 2023 playoffs, Kyle Larson got back to winning ways at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Though he did dominate the day and win both the stages, Sunday was an extremely thrilling affair for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. A stage 2 spin nearly cost him his victory, but he showed impeccable skill to escape a DNF and cruised to the victory lane without much damage.

Watching from the broadcast box, Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t help but marvel at the show of precision that the 31-year-old put on at Turn 2 with 24 laps to go.

Dale Earnhardt Jr is amazed by Kyle Larson’s maneuverable abilities

Racing second in lap 141 of the day, Larson got sideways in Turn 2 as he chased down the race leader. When the right-rear panel of his wiggly Camaro scraped the wall, he showed some serious skill to keep it in contention. Choosing not to over-correct the wheels, he slowed and regained, to keep driving on the damaged tires until a caution came out.

Watching the turn of events, Dale Jr was left in total admiration for the driver’s skill and presence of mind.

Commentating from NBC’s box, he exclaimed, “Oh! Oh! Wow!! That was massive! So car almost spins out… he does a really incredible thing. And basically just locks all four tires down and that kind of that and the wall straightened the car out.”

The timely move from Larson helped him carry on till a caution came out courtesy of teammate Alex Bowman. Changing his tires, Larson got to take the lead off the pit road.

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Kyle Larson beats Christopher Bell to take the narrow win at Vegas, thanks to No. 5 crew

Despite taking the lead at the pit road, Larson couldn’t yet call the day his. As the third stage ran, the No. 5 car lost a few positions and cruised around the fourth spot. Struggling to go past the No. 6 car of Keselowski, Larson was finally gifted a break when another caution came out on lap 210. Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 crew delivered more than what they promised and made sure that their driver went out of the pitstop with the lead once again.

In the waning laps of the day, the Camaro began to lose its edge and was being followed closely by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell. The JGR driver had almost cut Larson’s lead to a null, but Larson hung on and ended up taking the win by a narrow 0.082 seconds.

Talking about the second stage mishap that could’ve ended things differently, Larson said, “What a job done by my team, too. Just a great race car. I almost gave it away there in (Turns) 1 and 2, getting sideways, hitting into the wall. Had to fight back there with our balance. They got it much closer there (racing) in the lead.”

The win was Larson’s fourth of the season. Now that he has got his place in the Championship 4 fixed, the driver will not have to worry much about the races at Miami and Martinsville. However, gaining the admiration of legends like Dale Jr and Jeff Burton will surely boost his confidence going to Phoenix. Let us know what you thought of Larson’s run at Vegas!

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