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Kyle Larson took the lead on the final miles and outpaced the rest of the field to win Sunday’s 400-lap NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.
The win made Larson the second multiple race winner of the season. He won at Richmond Raceway two races ago. William Byron, Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, has also won twice.
After passing Joey Logano with 29 laps to go, Larson quickly built a three second lead and drove to victory. In turn, they were followed by Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe.
A caution from JJ Yeley’s impact with the perimeter wall caused the field to curl up with 46 laps to go. Logano, who was lapped early in the race, led at the restart.
Kevin Harvick won stage two, leading Briscoe, Hamlin, Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski to the finish. Harvick lost a chance of winning late in the race when a lug nut came loose from his right front wheel.
In two stages only three riders – Ryan Preece, Ross Chastain and Harvick – had led laps.
Preece, the pole winner, was a dominant force on stage one, leading all 80 laps without serious challenge. Behind Preece in the top five were Aric Almirola, Reddick, Daniel Suarez and Briscoe.
Preece’s car was so strong in the early stages that he was able to lap Logano, among others.
It took a mistake in the pit lane to knock Preece off the lead. During a pit stop during a warning flag, Preece was caught exiting his pits at too high a speed, causing him to fall from first place to the back of the field. That mistake gave the lead to Ross Chastain, who fell by the wayside during the yellow period.
Chase Elliott, who returned to racing on Sunday after missing six races with a leg injury, recovered late and finished tenth.
Stage 1 Winner: Ryan Preece
Stage 2 Winner: Kevin Harvick
Who had a good race: Ryan Preece led the first 135 laps of the race before suffering a pit lane penalty. … Aric Almirola had one of his best runs of the season, racing in and around the top 5 for most of the day. … Coming back from injury, Chase Elliott finished 10th, running fastest in the closing stages.
Who had a bad race: Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding on the pit lane early in the race and failed to make noise at the front of the field.
Next: The series next runs at Talladega Superspeedway on April 23 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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Kyle Larson Wins NASCAR Cup Series Race at Martinsville Speedway originally appeared on NBCSports.com