Pit Stops : Las Vegas Motor Speedway

  • 16
  • 14
  • 6

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • South Point 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Christopher Bell
  • Age: 28
  • Team : No. 20 - Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
  • Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the South Point 400 with a lap of 28.98 seconds, 186.335 mph.
  • This is his 10th pole in 141 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his sixth pole and 22nd top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his second pole in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Kyle Larson (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2023 and his 10th in 15 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • William Byron (third) posted his fifth top-10 start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 21st in 33 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (11th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, October 15th, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Kyle Larson clinches Championship 4 berth with win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Kyle Larson earned this trophy the old-fashioned way. The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet led the most laps and swept both stage wins but still had to hold off a hard-charging, equally motivated Christopher Bell at the finish line to claim a dramatic victory in Sunday’s South Point 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The 31-year-old Larson blocked the final charge by fellow Playoff driver Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota as the two cars approached the checkered flag. Larson ultimately positioned his Chevy in front to claim a .082-second win and most importantly, secure the first of four available positions in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 race at Phoenix in three weeks.

It was a compelling afternoon ushering in this final three-race, eight-driver round of Playoff competition to set up the four-driver title chase. There were seven race leaders and 20 lead changes. Larson held off the field on a re-start with 45 laps to go and never relinquished it despite quality challenges from Bell to close out the race and earlier, Roush Fenway Keselowski owner-driver Brad Keselowski, who led 38 laps himself.

Larson led seven times and accumulated the most laps led – 133 of 267 – on the afternoon to top the 1,000-laps led mark on the season – his 1,031 total laps out front in 2023, most in the series.

Not only did he have to hold off Bell, who made up half a second in the closing five laps to get to Larson’s bumper, the 2021 series champ Larson survived a close call mid-race, his Chevy getting loose and out of control. But the former dirt race champion dramatically corrected and calmly carried on.

“Thankfully Christopher [Bell] always races extremely clean, it could have gotten crazier than it did coming to the start-finish line so “thank you” to him for racing with respect there,’’ Larson said. “What a job done by my team. Just a great race car.

“I almost gave it away there in Turn one and two. Got sideways and hit the wall and had to fight back from there. I was happy to pull away as much as we did and was hoping that would be enough to maintain, which it was. But I didn’t think they’d be able to get as close as they did at the end, so nerve-wracking.

“This is really cool to get to race for the championship in a few weeks and really glad I don’t have to stress these next two races,’’ Larson continued.

Despite the impressive afternoon Bell, who started from pole position and led 61 laps now finds himself ranked fifth – three points below the four-driver cutoff line heading into next week’s Playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I don’t know what else I could have done,’’ Bell said. “I feel like that was my moment, that was my moment to make the Final Four and didn’t quite capture it. Coming to the checkers there, I knew he was going to be blocking so I’m like I’ll try to go high, and he went high. I don’t even know if I had a run to get by him coming to the line. Just wasn’t enough, but a great day. Great day for sure to get those stage points and a second place finish out of it. Puts us behind by two [points] so we’re not out of it by any means, but would have been nice to lock in.’’

Seven of the eight remaining Playoff-eligible drivers finished among the Top 10. Playoff driver Ryan Blaney finished 36th. His No. 12 Ford was disqualified following post-race technical inspection when the left front damper didn’t meet the specified length. He now sits 56 points below the cutoff line for the Championship 4 and essentially must win one of the next two races – at Homestead-Miami Speedway or Martinsville Speedway – to advance.

The non-Playoff cars of Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch, RFK’s Keselowski and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain rounded out the top five behind Larson and Bell.

Playoff drivers William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

The race shook up the Playoff points. Beyond Larson’s automatic bid, Byron still holds the championship lead in what is now more tightly-bunched standings. Byron is 11 points above the cutoff line, and is followed for the final championship spots by Hamlin (+4) and Truex (+3).

Bell sits three points below Truex on the cutoff line, followed by Reddick (-15), Buescher (-23) and Blaney (-56).

Hendrick Motorsports executive – and NASCAR Hall of Famer driver Jeff Gordon – smiled when asked about Larson’s day.

“I don’t know where to begin,’’ Gordon said. “It certainly looked like they were the class or the field at one point, then Bell did then Keselowski did. Great race really.”

Asked if Larson was potentially as “good” as the 93-race winner Gordon had been when competing, the former four-time series champion said, “You take a guy like Kyle and his capabilities and his talent and he’s impressed me with his work ethic too. I wasn’t sure how he approached the Cup Series and [crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and all the data that Cliff gives him in the meetings they have. .. it’s a lot of information you have to absorb.

“But he’s stepped up to the plate and done absolutely everything the organization has asked of him and then some. It’s been a great relationship and this year has been all about getting the car and team to align.

“Seems like in the Playoffs they’ve been bringing fast race cars and stepping up to the plate.”

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 267
  • Margin of Victory: 0.082 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 57 Minutes 10 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 135.635
  • Cautions: 7 for 36 laps
  • Lead Changes: 20
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,549 (15.4 passes per green flag lap)

  • Las Vegas Motor Speedway
  • South Point 400
  • Race Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 31
  • Team : No. 5 - HendrickCars.com Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
  • Kyle Larson won the South Point 400, his 23rd victory in 328 Cup Series races.
  • This is his fourth victory and 16th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • This is his second victory and 11th top-10 finish in 15 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Christopher Bell (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in eight races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is his 17th top-10 finish in 2023.
  • Kyle Busch (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 25 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
  • Ty Gibbs (34th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Kyle Larson leads the point standings by 7 points over William Byron.
Kyle Larson exits pit road
Las Vegas, Nevada - October 15, 2023 : Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, exits pit road during the NASCAR Cup Series South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Aggregate of each driver's pit stops during the race.

 
DRIVER
START
FINISH
STATUS
# STOPS
DRIVER / PIT CREW
FASTEST
SLOWEST
AVG TIME
RANK
DRIVER
AVG TIME
RANK
PIT CREW
AVG TIME
RANK

Brad Keselowski
21
4
Running
7
32.895
38.352
36.588
1
28.513
8
8.075
1
William Byron
3
7
Running
7
33.203
38.826
37.731
2
28.522
9
9.209
2
Joey Logano
9
12
Running
7
32.987
40.643
37.921
3
28.441
6
9.481
4
Christopher Bell
1
2
Running
7
33.922
39.070
37.983
4
28.588
13
9.395
3
Kevin Harvick
24
16
Running
7
33.580
39.541
38.313
5
28.540
11
9.773
8
Michael McDowell
18
17
Running
7
33.704
42.322
38.313
6
28.652
16
9.662
6
Ty Gibbs
11
34
Running
7
33.541
39.740
38.325
7
28.614
14
9.711
7
Denny Hamlin
15
10
Running
7
34.440
39.892
38.382
8
28.763
21
9.619
5
Kyle Busch
6
3
Running
7
34.354
40.316
38.506
9
28.582
12
9.924
9
Kyle Larson
2
1
Running
7
37.570
39.243
38.533
10
28.427
4
10.105
11
Tyler Reddick
8
8
Running
7
33.148
41.365
38.615
11
28.419
3
10.196
12
Aric Almirola
13
14
Running
7
38.446
39.247
38.711
12
28.430
5
10.282
14
Ross Chastain
10
5
Running
6
38.222
39.438
38.765
13
28.477
7
10.288
15
Ryan Blaney
12
6
Running
7
38.364
39.234
38.889
14
28.693
17
10.196
13
Harrison Burton
33
20
Running
6
34.664
40.776
39.015
15
29.033
28
9.982
10
Martin Truex Jr
4
9
Running
6
38.668
39.662
39.182
16
28.338
1
10.844
20
Ryan Preece
32
26
Running
6
38.671
41.038
39.486
17
28.792
22
10.694
17
Alex Bowman
14
35
Accident
4
38.944
40.807
39.510
18
28.718
18
10.792
19
Austin Dillon
16
18
Running
6
38.595
41.532
39.600
19
28.339
2
11.261
27
Bubba Wallace
7
13
Running
7
38.640
40.625
39.657
20
28.527
10
11.130
24

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

DRIVER
LEADER LAP
DRIVER LAP
DRIVER TIME
CREW TIME
TOTAL
TYPE

AJ Allmendinger
67
67
28.480
10.477
38.957
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
82
82
28.679
10.644
39.323
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
211
211
28.610
11.044
39.654
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
167
167
28.533
11.144
39.677
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
33
32
28.773
11.044
39.817
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
145
145
29.485
10.877
40.362
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
114
114
32.786
12.913
45.699
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
211
211
28.369
10.077
38.446
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
167
167
28.461
10.043
38.504
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
145
145
28.542
10.010
38.552
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
113
113
28.311
10.310
38.621
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
67
67
28.466
10.310
38.776
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
34
33
28.290
10.544
38.834
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
82
82
28.570
10.677
39.247
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
145
145
28.657
4.238
32.895
TWO WHEEL CHANGE RIGHT
Brad Keselowski
67
67
28.455
4.504
32.959
TWO WHEEL CHANGE RIGHT
Brad Keselowski
82
82
28.425
9.443
37.868
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
211
211
28.543
9.342
37.885
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
113
113
28.401
9.643
38.044
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
167
167
28.337
9.776
38.113
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE