While all eyes were on Shane van Gisbergen’s road-course comeback at the Circuit of the Americas, it was the #17 of HendrickCars.com that crossed the line first. After SVG’s tussle with Austin Hill caught him off-guard, Kyle Larson slotted his Chevy into the lead to secure road-course glory over the Kiwi. However, Larson felt the Kiwi would’ve gotten out of reach if the #97 had maintained the lead on the final restart.

Kyle Larson reveals how Shane van Gisbergen’s COTA misery helped him win

Although Kyle Larson was the pole-sitter for the Focused Health 250, it was a Kaulig Racing lockout for much of the race. Both AJ Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen were formidable forces, leading 20 laps each in the earlier stages. Unfortunately for the duo, wrecks in the later stages resulted in the pack catching up, with Austin Hill and Kyle Larson right on Shane van Gisbergen’s tale as they entered turn one, with 2 laps remaining.

While SVG maintained a stable line into the turn, Austin Hill bumped the #97, sending the Kiwi off-course and into second place. On the very next lap, Kyle Larson was slotting behind SVG while he gunned for Hill, eventually capitalizing off their collision to take the lead. While Larson had driven a clean race throughout, he felt he couldn’t have won if SVG had maintained the lead throughout.

Reflecting on how the last two laps of the Xfinity race unfolded, Larson shared; “On the restart, I mean I was kind of I was just in the outside lane and got to the bottom lane and I can see that the #21 was kind of shoving, at least from my view it looked like he was shoving the #97 through the corner. They all ended up way out there and I was happy about that.”

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It’s safe to say that SVG’s misery worked out for Kyle Larson. The #17 driver’s meticulous planning and early prediction definitely helped him secure a well-deserved win.

Larson’s ‘payback’ prediction couldn’t have been more accurate

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Looking back at the restart, Kyle Larson shared that he tried everything possible to stay behind the bumper of SVG, if not pass him for the lead. But eventually, Larson decided to hang back on his fresher tires and wait for the right moment. After all, Shane van Gisbergen was on a mission of his own, hoping to give Hill a taste of his own medicine.

Predicting the inevitable, Larson shared, “I kept telling myself to be patient through that final lap and hopefully, you know, there would be some sort of payback. And that’s what happened. He (SVG) got to the stadium and kind of shoved ‘em (Hill) through 15 into 16 and they both washed up a lot, and I had a nice angle and driven my tires to clear them on the exit, and just from then on, just tried not to get over-excited and screw up the gap that I had.” 

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And just like that, Shane van Gisbgergen’s run-in with Austin Hill delivered the perfect finish for Larson.