• Associated Press

May 11, 2025, 08:11 PM ET

KANSAS CITY, Kan. —

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    “Glad to not win by an inch this time,” Larson said with a smile. “A little safer gap.”

    Larson, who also has wins at Homestead and Bristol, has finished in the top four in each of his past four Cup Series races, and now he will take that momentum to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Larson will be on track Tuesday as he begins another shot at “the Double” – running every lap of the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend.

    Last year, he contended in the rain-delayed Indy 500 before a speeding penalty on pit road resulted in an 18th-place finish. He then hopped a flight to Charlotte for the NASCAR race, but rain there kept him from ever completing a lap.

    “It’s a cool win here at Kansas,” Larson said in victory lane, “and now we’ll try to execute two good weeks at Indy.”

    Even though Larson spent most of a hot, sunny day at Kansas in the lead, he found himself trailing Chase Elliott early in the final stage. But when Elliott’s team dropped the jack too soon before his right rear tire was on during a pit stop, Larson was able to get back to the front on the restart, and he spent the last 50 laps cruising to the checkered flag.

    Bell, a three-time winner already, finished in the top three for the sixth time this season. Ryan Blaney came in third, giving Team Penske another good run after Austin Cindric won two weeks ago at Talladega and Joey Logano won last week at Texas.

    “I was just trying to get to the end. I know Ryan was coming on really strong there,” Bell said. “I feel like our day was kind of a product of qualifying well and having good pit stops and restarts.”

    Blaney knew he was coming on strong, too, but he was left to lament what might have been.

    “We were kind of running those guys down quick,” Blaney said. “A few more laps, I would have scared the 5 a bit at least.”

    Chase Briscoe finished fourth and Larson’s teammate Alex Bowman rounded out the top five.

    Brad Keselowski looked as if he might finally have his first top-10 finish this season. He started from the rear but steadily made his way forward, and the 2012 series champion had moved into second behind Elliott when his right rear went down with 72 laps to go. Keselowski wound up in the wall, ending his hopes of contending.

    “I mean, it was going to be a great day,” Keselowski said. “I heard a big boom and around it went. It’s unfortunate.”

    Denny Hamlin also had a fast car all afternoon, but he wound up fighting a clutch problem that made pitting a nightmare. He was still running with the leaders before Keselowski’s caution, when yet more clutch trouble finally ruined his day.

    “Really fast again,” Hamlin said. “Just can’t keep it together right now.”

    The All-Star Race is up next Sunday at North Wilkesboro, where Logano is the defending champ. There are changes to the format this year, including an optional promoter’s caution flag, which could dramatically reshape the 250-lap race.