In classic finish, Kyle Larson holds off Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch at Fontana for first career Nationwide Series win - MotorSportsTalk

It was a classic shootout between the winningest driver in series history against one of the most promising bright stars in NASCAR today, ending up being the kind of race fans will be talking about for a long time.

While the first name on their lips will be Kyle, the next name and word will be Larson and not Busch.

The young gun, Kyle Larson, outworked, outdrove and outfinished the winningest driver in Nationwide Series history, Kyle Busch, to capture Saturday’s TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway.

“Those last 11 or 12 laps were the longest laps of my life,” a smiling Larson said in victory lane. “It’s nice to get a win. I was looking at the board over there in (turns) one and two and it said ‘five second-place finishes in the Nationwide Series,’ and I didn’t want to make it six,” said Larson, a native of Elk Grove, Calif., about 425 miles northwest of Fontana. “It means the world to finally get it here, in my home state of California.”

Larson led just 17 laps, including 15 of the final 17, to notch his first career win in the Nationwide series (and second NASCAR win overall, having won a Trucks race last season at Rockingham), edging Harvick at the finish line, with Busch falling back on the last lap to finish third.

“The 54 (Busch) and 5 (Kevin Harvick) were really good behind us,” Larson said. “I had a heck of a race with those guys, it was amazing. … I could see the 54 and 5 racing hard behind me and they weren’t getting any further behind.”

No matter what Busch, who has won a record 65 NNS races in his career, tried to do, Larson displayed the savvy of a veteran driver in holding off his main challenger.

Larson had more than Busch to contend with as Harvick began a late surge with seven laps to go, but couldn’t quite get to the front.

Busch skimmed the wall with six laps to go, but damage appeared minimal and didn’t seem to affect his Toyota Camry.

Busch regained the lead briefly right after that, but on the next lap, Larson incredulously found a way to sneak by Busch on the right without hitting the wall.

If Larson had a couple of inches to clear, it was barely that, at best.

“(I’ve dreamed of this) for quite a while, ever since I finished second last year at Bristol,” Larson said. “It’s been over a year now since I’ve been close to winning, I finally got it done and it means a lot to have done it here in California.

“That was a blast racing out there and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a heck of a race in the Cup car, too (on Sunday).”

Busch, who started from the back of the 40-car field due to his car failing pre-race inspection, came into victory lane while Larson was giving a post-race interview to congratulate him, as did Sprint Cup team owner Rick Hendrick.

“You want to come out here and win, that’s what we’re here to do,” Busch said. “When it all comes down to the end like that and a great finish happens, there shouldn’t be anyone any happier than the fans in the stands. I thought that was a really good day. Maybe we put on the best show because I had to start last and drove all the way to the front. There at the end we were just a little shy and (Kyle) Larson won. All in all, the fans won today.”

In the closing laps, and to his credit, Harvick continually worked the low line and gave Larson all he could handle.

Meanwhile, Larson and Busch stuck to the high groove, forcing Harvick to slide up several times before going back down to the bottom of the two-mile track.

That strategy wasn’t enough to win, but did earn Harvick the runner-up finish.

“It’s pretty cool to beat those guys,” Larson said. “The 54 and 22 (fourth-place finisher Joey Logano) have dominated this series for a while now and Harvick’s with a good team, so I’m sure we’ll be battling them for a while. It was a blast.”

Logano led the most laps (96) in the 150-lap race around the two-mile oval, but faded in the latter part of the race to finish fourth. Busch led 25 laps and Harvick eight.

Elliott Sadler was fifth, followed by Chase Elliott, Matt Kenseth, Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith finished 10th.

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Check out the video of the closing laps below, followed by the unofficial finishing order:

Unofficial finishing order of Saturday’s TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.:

1 Kyle Larson

2 Kevin Harvick

3 Kyle Busch

4 Joey Logano

5 Elliott Sadler

6 Chase Elliott

7 Matt Kenseth

8 Ty Dillon

9 Trevor Bayne

10 Regan Smith

11 Dylan Kwasniewski

12 Brian Scott

13 David Ragan

14 Chris Buescher

15 Brendan Gaughan

16 James Buescher

17 Ryan Reed

18 Mike Bliss

19 JJ Yeley

20 Dakoda Armstrong

21 Mike Wallace

22 Ryan Sieg

23 Jeffrey Earnhardt

24 David Starr

25 Eric McClure

26 Joey Gase

27 Daryl Harr

28 Derrike Cope

29 Carlos Contreras

30 Kevin Lepage

31 Tanner Berryhill

32 Jason White

33 Josh Wise

34 Jamie Dick

35 Landon Cassill

36 Jeremy Clements

37 Matt DiBenedetto

38 Carl Long

39 Blake Koch

40 Jeff Green

Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”