Larson Edges LaJoie In Thrilling NH Finish
Rev Racing Driver Earns Second K&N East Win In G-Oil 100
LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Larson won a drag race to the finish line against Corey LaJoie to capture the G-Oil 100 checkered flag in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East action Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Larson, a 20-year-old rookie from Elk Grove, Calif., took the lead from LaJoie on Lap 86 and held on through a pair of restarts for his second victory in 11 K&N Pro Series East races.
Larson, who competes for Rev Racing in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity initiative, also won earlier this year at Gresham Motorsports Park on June 9 in Jefferson, Ga. Saturday marked the eighth victory for Rev Racing in the last two seasons.
“I was really loose on the restarts, I got loose again off of [Turn] 4 and let Corey get to my quarter panel, and luckily he didn’t have enough speed to beat me to the line,” Larson said of the final dash to the checkered flag.
For LaJoie, who came up just 0.071 seconds short at the line, it was his fourth top-10 finish in six visits to the “Magic Mile.” He has a series-high three wins this season, but was looking for the first of his career at NHMS. LaJoie led twice for 25 laps.
“Things were falling our way there in the beginning, but then the cautions started coming out and Kyle’s car was just good enough on the 3-4 lap runs to get me on the high side and I couldn’t get the run off the corner,” LaJoie said.
Darrell Wallace Jr. crossed the line third while Dylan Kwasniewski and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. Elliott was scored 33rd out of the 40-car filed after cutting a tire on Lap 26 and rallied for his fifth top-five of the year.
Each of Saturday’s top-five finishers are part of NASCAR’s “Next 9” class of up-and-coming standout drivers.
Bryan Ortiz, Travis Pastrana, Eddie MacDonald, Dale Quarterley and Michael McGuire brought home the top 10 in the K&N Pro Series East’s lone trip of the year to the 1.058-mile oval. It was the series’ 57th all-time event in Loudon.
Points leader Brett Moffitt led a race-high 60 laps from his pole position on Saturday, but was relegated to a 16th-place finish, which broke a streak of five-consecutive top fives at NHMS. Moffitt’s slide – couple with Larson’s victory – pulled Larson to within three points of Moffitt’s lead with three events remaining in the campaign.
Only 13 points separate the top four drivers. Moffitt leads with 422, Larson has 419, LaJoie has 410 and Elliott has 409. They are followed by Ortiz at 377, MacDonald at 376, Brandon Gdovic at 368, Ben Kennedy at 353, Wallace at 352 and Sergio Pena at 341.
The G-Oil 100 is scheduled to be televised on SPEED at 3 p.m. ET on Sept. 27.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to action on Sept. 29 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway with the American Real TV 150.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE PRESS CONFERENCE
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR