Larson Captures Dixie Vodka 400, Plays Spoiler Role in NASCAR Cup Series Championship Battle at Homestead-Miami Speedway
Track’s NASCAR Playoffs Return Provided Fans With Competitive Action on the Track and Incredible Fan Experiences at the Vibrant South Florida Venue
By Holly Cain
NASCAR Wire Service
MIAMI, Fla. (Oct. 23, 2022) – Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form.
Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race’s 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.
Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger was third with Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. It is the 2012 series champion Keselowski’s first Top-five finish since becoming co-owner of the organization this season.
The win was 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson’s third of the year and 19th of his career – but the first at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval after a pair of previous near-misses. He led a race best 132 laps in 2016, but finished runner-up. He led 145 laps in 2017 and finished third.
“No matter what team I’ve been with, things haven’t worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today,’’ Larson said.
“Definitely the best run we’ve had all year long,’’ he added. “We’ve been capable of it I feel like many weekends, we just hadn’t quite put it all together. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused.
“Amazing race car,’’ he noted with a smile.
The 30-year-old Californian was eliminated from the Playoffs in the last round, so Chastain was the top-finishing championship contender with only one race – next week at Martinsville, Va. – to set the four driver Championship field for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix.
Only two Playoff drivers finished in the Top-10 Sunday at Homestead: Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who was seventh in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.
Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (finished 11th), Sunday’s polesitter William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Ryan Blaney (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) were still running on the lead lap at the checkered flag. The eighth Playoff-eligible driver, Chase Briscoe, finished last (36th) after making contact with the wall on lap 160.
Hamlin (four laps), Bell (four laps) and Byron (33 laps) all spent time leading the field before various setbacks.
Team Penske’s Logano is the only Playoff driver who has already earned his position in the Championship race thanks to a victory at Las Vegas a week ago. Chastain, Elliott and Byron now complete the Top-four driver ranking.
Hamlin sits in fifth place, five points below Byron. Blaney is 18 points below the cutline, Bell, 33 back and Briscoe now essentially in a must-win situation, trailing by 44 points.
With his victory, Larson’s No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet is eligible for the owner’s title.
While Larson dominated the laps-led category and even paced the field by more than 9-seconds at one point late in the race, he had to earn this trophy after a late-race caution flag.
Martin Truex Jr. had taken the lead after a caution period with 46 laps remaining and pulled away to a nearly 2-second lead when the final yellow flag flew again with 23 laps remaining.
As the field pitted, Larson’s Chevy was right behind Truex’s Toyota and it appeared Truex was going to miss his pit box when Larson’s car bumped Truex’s car from behind. The contact spun Truex, whose team was still able to service the car, but he fell outside the Top-10 initially before racing back up to a sixth-place finish.
“I was just going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I got into the back of him, ‘’ Larson explained of the incident. “My team said he was late getting into his stall. I don’t know. If it was my fault I’m sorry, but I don’t think it was. It’s hard to see on this pit road. . hate that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat.”
Truex, who is still racing for his first victory of 2022, was obviously disappointed in the outcome, but could only shake his head at the circumstances.
“It’s really hard to see through these windshields with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it,’’ Truex said. “I did see my box late for sure, so I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Larson) there.
“Partly on me, I didn’t expect to get turned around and glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just tough, just disappointing to have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn’t close the deal. I hate it for my team.
“It’s been one of those years.”
The final race to set the Championship 4 is next Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Playoffs driver Byron won at Martinsville earlier this season.
Next year’s Dixie Vodka 400 is set for Oct. 22, 2023. For more information on all events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, please visit www.homesteadmiamispeedway.com
Fans can also receive updates about upcoming events and races at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the NASCAR Tracks App for the latest speedway news.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400
Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead, Florida
Sunday, October 23, 2022
1. (5) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, 267.
2. (20) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 267.
3. (10) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 267.
4. (32) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
5. (9) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.
6. (12) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.
7. (14) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
8. (16) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267.
9. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267.
10. (23) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.
11. (2) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, 267.
12. (1) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.
13. (8) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.
14. (3) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.
15. (27) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.
16. (18) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.
17. (13) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 267.
18. (17) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.
19. (26) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 267.
20. (21) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 267.
21. (28) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267.
22. (6) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 267.
23. (31) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 267.
24. (25) Cole Custer, Ford, 266.
25. (24) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 266.
26. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 266.
27. (4) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Toyota, 266.
28. (15) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 266.
29. (33) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 266.
30. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 264.
31. (29) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 264.
32. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 263.
33. (35) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 262.
34. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 262.
35. (7) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 242.
36. (19) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, Accident, 160.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 129.612 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 5 Mins, 24 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.261 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 5 for 30 laps.
Lead Changes: 11 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: W. Byron (P) 1-26;K. Larson (P) 27-32;W. Byron (P) 33-37;K. Larson (P) 38-87;W. Byron (P) 88;K. Larson (P) 89-122;C. Bell (P) 123-126;K. Larson (P) 127-213;M. Truex Jr. 214-216;D. Hamlin (P) 217-220;M. Truex Jr. 221-245;K. Larson (P) 246-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Larson (P) 5 times for 199 laps; William Byron (P) 3 times for 32 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 28 laps; Christopher Bell (P) 1 time for 4 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 4 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 5,24,19,8,3,16,6,9,12,22
Stage #2 Top Ten: 5,19,24,12,6,9,99,1,22,11
About Homestead-Miami Speedway
Homestead-Miami Speedway has been open since 1995 following an initiative to spur economic recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. The Speedway, which was founded by Miami businessman, racing enthusiast and philanthropist Ralph Sanchez, is a 650-acre facility that features a 1.5-mile oval and 2.21-mile road course. The Speedway hosts on-track events nearly 300 days per year and generates more than $301 million annually for the region. NASCAR crowned champions in all three of its national series at Homestead-Miami Speedway for 18 straight years (2002-19). In 2022, the Dixie Vodka 400 moves to the third race in the Round of 8 on Sunday, Oct. 23, as part of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. In August of 2022, Homestead-Miami Speedway unveiled a new, colorfully designed logo that showcases the venue’s sense of place and incredible competition while incorporating all what South Florida has to offer from the vibrancy of South Beach to the tranquility of the Keys. Using a combination of pink, blue, yellow, light and dark turquoise – colors specific to the culture of South Florida – the new Homestead-Miami Speedway highlights regional and cultural flair of color, speed and intense, off-the chart racing that is unique to Miami.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series, NASCAR Peak Mexico Series, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).
