Kyle Larson wins NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas

Larson held off Christopher Bell on a restart with seven of 200 laps remaining and went on to win the Boyd Gaming 300, his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season.

Justin Allgaier finished third, Ryan Blaney was fourth and Elliott Sadler – the series points leader – completed the top-five.

Kyle Busch, the prohibitive favorite entering the race, had a subpar day, falling a lap down at one point and ended up 14th.

The win is the ninth of Larson’s career and first at Las Vegas.

“It was an awesome day,” Larson said in Victory Lane. “This car was so fast. It was really fast last year but you really never know and this was my first time racing with this new body and it performed well.”

Larson had to overcome a problem during a pit stop earlier in the race but managed to race his way back into contention for the win.

“Normally my guys are some of the best on pit road. They said the left-rear (tire) just wouldn’t come out,” Larson said. “I had been fighting a tight issue all day and then finally we got our car to turn better.

“It allowed me to get to the lead fairly easily and then I was saving fuel in case the race stayed green.”

Ryan Reed slapped the wall and brought out a caution on Lap 185 that took fuel mileage out of the equation for all of the contenders.

All of the lead-lap cars pit and Tyler Reddick exited pit road first and took over the lead on the restart with 11 laps remaining, followed by Larson and Bell.

Stage 2

Larson’s dominance did not go unrewarded as he led every green-flag lap on his way to the Stage 2 victory.

By the time Larson cruised to a more than four-second victory over Blaney, he had led 84 of the 90 laps run so far.

Allgaier was third, Cole Custer was fourth and Reddick completed the top-five.

“It’s all about track position at the start of the run. I think we’re just as fast as anybody,” Custer said. “We just need a good restart when we go back green.”

Bell, who won Stage 1, restarted the stage in fifth but struggled to gain any ground. In fact, he lost several positions in the last five laps and ended up ninth in the stage.

Busch uncharacteristically remained out of the hunt for the lead as well, finishing the stage in 10th.

Following pit stops during the stage break, Blaney held the lead followed by Larson and Custer.

Stage 1

Bell ran down Larson in the final laps of the 45-lap segment and claimed the Stage 1 victory.

Reddick was third, Busch was fourth and Blaney completed the top-five.

“That was fun, man,” Bell said as he took the checkered flag.

Bell ended up restarting Stage 2 in the fifth position after a slow pit stop during the stage break. “I’m not going to jeopardize myself on the restart,” he said.

Dylan Lupton got turned by Ryan Sieg on the frontstretch to bring out the first caution of the race on Lap 6. The race restarted on Lap 12 with Larson in the lead.