NXS: Kyle Larson Victorious in ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond

Kyle Larson will leave Richmond International Raceway with his seventh career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory on Saturday. Larson, who started the ToyotaCare 250 in seventh, led only 10 laps to capture his second win of the year.

The win did not come easy for the California native. The race was sent into NASCAR Overtime when a six-car crash brought out the caution in turn three. NASCAR displayed the red for two minutes and 43 seconds as crews cleaned the track. When the field went back green in NASCAR Overtime, a caution occurred just after Larson crossed the overtime line involving Ryan Reed, Cole Custer, and Daniel Suarez on the backstrech. This froze the field and resulted in a victory for Larson.

Larson now holds two victories, four top five and five top 10 finishes through five starts in 2017.

Justin Allgaier took home the runner-up spot in the No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. Allgaier, after starting in sixth, led three different times for 157 laps. By finishing second, the Illinois native will take home an additional $100,000 by being the highest finishing Dash4Cash eligible driver.

The series veteran sits second in the NASCAR XFINITY Series standings after eight races.

Daniel Hemric rounded out the top three finishers on Saturday at Richmond. Hemric, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender, started on the pole and led the first 26 laps of the race. Despite losing the lead, Hemric stayed inside the top 10 for the rest of the way to earn his second career XFINITY top five.

Kyle Benjamin had a clean day going in his NASCAR XFINITY Series debut until the middle portion of the ToyotaCare 250. The No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team had a pit road mishap where Benjamin left the box too early.

Later at lap 245, Benjamin and five other cars tangled in turn three. The crash forced NASCAR to display the red flag for a brief period to allow track crews to clean the surface.

Benjamin finished 32nd and seven laps down in his No. 20 ToyotaCare Toyota.

Ty Dillon found himself leading the race in the waning laps of the event. However, while restarting at the front of the field, Dillon jumped the restart and forced NASCAR to review. While reviewing, a caution displayed as they determined that he did jump the start and sent him to the rear of the field for the restart. Had the caution not come out in that situation, Dillon would’ve had to serve a pass-through penalty.

Dillon will leave the track with a 19th-place finish.

Elliott Sadler, who took home a seventh-place finish on Saturday afternoon, leaves Richmond leading the series driver standings by 41 points over teammate Justin Allgaier. William Byron, a teammate of Sadler and Allgaier, sits third going into next weekend’s event at Talladega. Daniel Hemric and Darrell Wallace Jr. round out the top five.

The series will travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the Sparks Energy 300. Coverage will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET. live on FOX. The Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM Channel 90 will carry the live radio broadcast.

Brett Winningham
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