NASCAR Cup Sonoma: Pit strategy propels Larson to third win of the season

Many of the planned race strategies went awry with seven cautions in the first 41 laps and that prompted Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels to run him as long as possible in the final stage before making his last pitstop.

Once Larson finally stopped, he cycled into eighth but with much fresher tyres he sliced through the field to take the lead with eight laps to go.

Martin Truex Jr was the first to catch leader Chris Buescher with nine laps to go and moved into the lead exiting Turn 11, but the much quicker Larson easily navigated Truex to reclaim the top spot a lap later.

From there, Larson ended up taking the win by 4.258 seconds over Michael McDowell as last year’s race winner Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap while running second.

"I didn't know what we were doing as far as strategy," Larson said after the race. "I was just out there banging laps away. I don't know, we study all the strategy, but it's like doing homework. I don't really know what I'm looking at.

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, NAPA Gold Filters Chevrolet Camaro (Photo by: John Harrelson / NKP / Motorsport Images)

"I was like, 'Well, man, these guys are going to have to pit another time maybe.' Then we said we had to go race and pass these guys, I got a bit nervous. I knew I'd be quick from the get-go but I thought once the tyres would come up to temperature it would even off too much."

Larson, who secured his third win of the 2024, the 26th of his career and second at his home track, added that he was aided by Truex's efforts to run down Buescher for the lead.

"Thankful that those guys got racing and Martin never got clear, that really saved the race. I thought once he got the lead, I'm like, 'Man, I hope he doesn't have somebody to judge off of here into [Turn] 4 and he misses the apex', and sure enough, he did, and I had a big run."

Buescher ended up third, with Chase Elliott fourth and Ross Chastain rounded out the top five. Truex ended up 27th and the last car on the lead lap.

Supercars stars Cam Waters and Will Brown – both making their Cup Series debut – struggled through difficult days. Brown finished 31st, three laps down, while Waters retired from the race after 66 laps with suspension damage.

NASCAR Cup Sonoma - Race results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	K. Larson Hendrick Motorsports	5		Chevrolet	110	2:56'13.806		4	48
2	M. McDowell Front Row Motorsports	34		Ford	110	+4.258 2:56'18.064	4.258	6	40
3	C. Buescher RFK Racing	17		Ford	110	+6.453 2:56'20.259	2.195	5	44
4	C. Elliott Hendrick Motorsports	9		Chevrolet	110	+10.873 2:56'24.679	4.420	5	40
5	R. Chastain TrackHouse Racing	1		Chevrolet	110	+11.089 2:56'24.895	0.216	5	36
6	A. Allmendinger Kaulig Racing	16		Chevrolet	110	+13.899 2:56'27.705	2.810	6
7	R. Blaney Team Penske	12		Ford	110	+18.855 2:56'32.661	4.956	6	39
8	T. Reddick 23XI Racing	45		Toyota	110	+19.915 2:56'33.721	1.060	5	39
9	C. Bell Joe Gibbs Racing	20		Toyota	110	+21.946 2:56'35.752	2.031	6	28
10	T. Gilliland Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	110	+24.091 2:56'37.897	2.145	5	31
11	C. Lajoie Spire Motorsports	7		Chevrolet	110	+27.192 2:56'40.998	3.101	8	28
12	K. Busch Richard Childress Racing	8		Chevrolet	110	+37.983 2:56'51.789	10.791	9	32
13	B. Keselowski RFK Racing	6		Ford	110	+37.984 2:56'51.790	0.001	6	29
14	D. Suarez TrackHouse Racing	99		Chevrolet	110	+38.868 2:56'52.674	0.884	5	26
15	A. Bowman Hendrick Motorsports	48		Chevrolet	110	+42.466 2:56'56.272	3.598	5	28
16	Z. Smith Spire Motorsports	71		Chevrolet	110	+42.889 2:56'56.695	0.423	9	21
17	C. Hocevar Spire Motorsports	77		Chevrolet	110	+43.212 2:56'57.018	0.323	5	20
18	R. Preece Stewart-Haas Racing	41		Ford	110	+47.576 2:57'01.382	4.364	7	28
19	E. Jones Legacy Motor Club	43		Toyota	110	+51.769 2:57'05.575	4.193	5	22
20	B. Wallace 23XI Racing	23		Toyota	110	+56.375 2:57'10.181	4.606	6	17
21	J. Logano Team Penske	22		Ford	110	+57.011 2:57'10.817	0.636	10	18
22	A. Cindric Team Penske	2		Ford	110	+58.460 2:57'12.266	1.449	6	15
23	K. Grala Rick Ware Racing	15		Ford	110	+59.982 2:57'13.788	1.522	10	14
24	R. Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing	47		Chevrolet	110	+1'03.203 2:57'17.009	3.221	8	13
25	H. Burton Wood Brothers Racing	21		Ford	110	+1'06.499 2:57'20.305	3.296	9	13
26	N. Gragson Stewart-Haas Racing	10		Ford	110	+1'08.282 2:57'22.088	1.783	6	11
27	M. Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing	19		Toyota	110	+2'05.551 2:58'19.357	57.269	8	18
28	D. Hemric Kaulig Racing	31		Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap 2:56'28.760	1 Lap	8	9
29	J. Nemechek Legacy Motor Club	42		Toyota	109	+1 Lap 2:56'56.026	27.266	10	8
30	W. Byron Hendrick Motorsports	24		Chevrolet	108	+2 Laps 2:56'55.194	1 Lap	14	7
31	W. Brown Richard Childress Racing	33		Chevrolet	107	+3 Laps 2:57'16.632	1 Lap	10	6
32	J. Berry Stewart-Haas Racing	4		Ford	95	+15 Laps 2:38'17.051	12 Laps	7	5	Suspension
33	J. Haley Rick Ware Racing	51		Ford	88	+22 Laps 2:30'35.668	7 Laps	7	4	Steering
34	C. Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing	14		Ford	73	+37 Laps 2:10'11.363	15 Laps	9	3	Transmission
35	C. Waters RFK Racing	60		Ford	66	+44 Laps 2:05'05.557	7 Laps	10	2	Accident
36	A. Dillon Richard Childress Racing	3		Chevrolet	39	+71 Laps 1:22'20.626	27 Laps	6	1	DVP
37	T. Gibbs Joe Gibbs Racing	54		Toyota	16	+94 Laps 26'08.777	23 Laps	3	1	DVP
38	D. Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing	11		Toyota	2	+108 Laps 2'43.021	14 Laps	2	1	Engine
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