Kyle Larson is one of the NASCAR Cup Series‘ top road course racers today with three wins on such tracks. He finally added an Xfinity Series version on Saturday at Watkins Glen International, even if he had basically been gifted the victory after Cup team-mate William Byron spun while battling Ty Gibbs for the lead with five laps remaining.
Larson was doing a one-off with JR Motorsports as part of a road course-only slate in the Xfinity Series, his first starts in NASCAR’s second tier since 2018; he won the pole and finished runner-up to Gibbs with his Cup employer Hendrick Motorsports at Road America in July. He started third behind Byron and Gibbs, and those two were the class of the field as they combined to lead sixty of eighty-two laps with Byron also winning Stage #2.
However, the Byron/Gibbs Show got physical on lap 75 as they ran next to each other through the Bus Stop chicane. Gibbs, who was on Byron’s left, collided with him and sent the two into a spin across the racing surface. Larson and A.J. Allmendinger slipped across as the caution came out.
“We had a good start and [Byron] kind of washed up a little bit, but we had a good start,” explained Gibbs. “I stayed side-by-side with him and I felt like I had a good side draft going with him heading into the Bus Stop to where it helped me get position, and I remember coming to however many laps to go, so I felt like if I just let him by, it was game over. I had good position, I just didn’t put myself in a good spot on the kerbs and and it just got me loose, I washed up into him and wrecked us both.
“It was my fault, but I was going for the win. I didn’t just want to pull over and let him go. Sorry to the #17 guys and to William. We put on a great show and I feel like he raced me well and I raced him well until I wrecked him. It was a good battle.”
The race resumed with five laps remaining and Larson held off Allmendinger for his thirteenth career Xfinity win, first on a road course, and first since Bristol in 2018. He also notched JRM’s first road course triumph since Road America in 2018 with Justin Allgaier, first at The Glen, and fifth overall; the team also won with Ron Fellows at Montreal 2008 and twice at Mid-Ohio with Regan Smith in 2015 and Allgaier in 2018. Larson further secured Chevrolet’s first Xfinity victory at WGI since Kevin Harvick in 2007.
Sammy Smith won the first stage and finished a career-best third.
“I learned a lot. It was a good day overall,” said Smith. “We had a good day as a team and I was able to capitalise. The last few races, I didn’t feel like I was able to capitalise and I feel like I did a better job today. Looking forward to Daytona next week.
“I felt like it was a good opportunity and I felt like I did a good job pushing Ty and then I’m not sure what happened between him and Byron, but they got pushed wide and then I got pushed wide. Then I got put three-wide in the esses and killed my momentum. Was in a bad spot going into the bus stop, but did a good job coming out of there and it was a good day.”
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 3 | 88 | Kyle Larson* | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 16 | A.J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 3 | 19 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 4 | 16 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 5 | 14 | 48 | Kaz Grala* | Big Machine Racing Team | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 6 | 7 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 7 | 6 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 8 | 11 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 9 | 17 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 10 | 22 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 11 | 5 | 07 | Cole Custer* | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 12 | 23 | 44 | Stefan Parsons* | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 13 | 34 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 14 | 35 | 66 | Timmy Hill* | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 15 | 13 | 26 | Connor Mosack* | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 16 | 20 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 17 | 21 | 45 | Josh Bilicki* | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 18 | 26 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 19 | 33 | 08 | Andy Lally | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 82 | Running |
| 20 | 27 | 35 | Brad Pérez* | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 21 | 31 | 91 | Preston Pardus | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 22 | 25 | 34 | Kyle Weatherman | Jesse Iwuji Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 23 | 32 | 78 | Scott Heckert | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 24 | 12 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 25 | 1 | 17 | William Byron* | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 26 | 37 | 4 | Bayley Currey | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 82 | Running |
| 27 | 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 82 | Running |
| 28 | 15 | 92 | Ross Chastain* | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 81 | Running |
| 29 | 38 | 02 | Blaine Perkins* | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 80 | Running |
| 30 | 8 | 21 | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 73 | Running |
| 31 | 9 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 58 | Accident |
| 32 | 30 | 5 | Brandon Brown | B.J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51 | Axle |
| 33 | 29 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 50 | Accident |
| 34 | 36 | 68 | Kris Wright* | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30 | Driveshaft |
| 35 | 18 | 36 | Alex Labbé | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 26 | Accident |
| 36 | 24 | 38 | Patrick Gallagher | RSS Racing | Ford | 14 | Rear Gear |
| 37 | 28 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 | Accident |
| 38 | 10 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 | Accident |
| DNQ | 32 | Austin Wayne Self | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 6 | Spencer Pumpelly | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | |||
| DNQ | 47 | Stanton Barrett | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet |
* – Ineligible for points