NASCAR at Las Vegas results: Kyle Larson wins Pennzoil 400, first win after 2020 firing, suspension

Joe Rivera

NASCAR at Las Vegas results: Kyle Larson wins Pennzoil 400, first win after 2020 firing, suspension image

Kyle Larson rolled the dice and won.

Less than a year after he was fired from Chip Ganassi Racing and suspended by NASCAR for using a racial slur during a NASCAR iRacing event, Larson took home the victory in Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 car in Las Vegas at the Pennzoil 400. Larson's win is his first top-row finish since 2019 and his first win since his firing and suspension.

Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney filled out the unofficial top five. Kevin Harvick, the pole-sitter for Sunday's race, surprisingly finished in 20th place.

Larson is the fourth different winner in as many races in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, and Sunday was his second top-five finish of the year. He finished fourth at Homestead last week.

Larson signed with Hendrick Motorsports in October 2020, six months after he was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing and suspended by NASCAR for using the N-word during an iRacing event. The signing came less than two weeks after NASCAR reinstated Larson for competition, effective Jan. 1. 

Sporting News covered highlights, updates and more from Sunday's race in Las Vegas.

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(All times Eastern)

NASCAR at Las Vegas results

Official results.

PositionDriver
1Kyle Larson
2Brad Keselowski
3Kyle Busch
4Denny Hamlin
5Ryan Blaney
6Martin Truex
7Christopher Bell
8William Byron
9Joey Logano
10Erik Jones
11Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12Austin Dillion
13Chase Elliott
14Chris Buescher
15Ryan Preece
16Matt DiBenedetto
17Michael McDowell
18Ryan Newman
19Kurt Busch
20Kevin Harvick
21Chase Briscoe
22Tyler Reddick
23Ross Chastain
24Anthony Alfredo
25Cole Custer
26Daniel Suarez
27Alex Bowman
28Bubba Wallace
29Justin Haley
30BJ McLeod
31Garrett Smithley
32Cody Ware
33Quin Houff
34Joey Gase
35Josh Bilicki
36Timmy Hill
37Corey LaJoie (DNF)
38Aric Almirola (DNF)

NASCAR at Las Vegas live updates, highlights from Pennzoil 400

6:40 FINISH: Kyle Larson takes home his first win in two years and his first with Hendrick Motorsports. 

6:28 p.m.:  Kyle Larson in the lead with 25 laps to go. Brad Keselowski is behind him, with Hamlin, Truex and Busch rounding out the top five. 

6:12 p.m.:  54 laps to go, Larson, Hamlin, Keselowski, Blaney, Truex are the one-through-five.

6:03 p.m.:  Harvick and Truex fighting for first in an entertaining back-and-forth with 70 laps to go. Kyle Larson slips in.

5:50 p.m.:  Aric Almirola coming off, bad damage to the front right and left of his car after hitting the wall. He's coming off, and another caution is out.

5:41 p.m.:  Chase Elliott spins iut, damage to his left front fender, he's going to have to pit. Caution flag is out.

5:39 p.m.:  100 laps left after the restart. Kyle Larson still out front for the time being. Hamlin, Truex, Kyle Busch, Bowman round out the top five.

5:28 p.m. End Stage 2:  Kyle Larson wins Stage 2. 

5:21 p.m.:  14 laps to go in Stage 2, and Kyle Larson pulls out front.

5:13 p.m.:  Tyler Reddick takes the lead for the moment with several cars pitting. 29 laps to go in Stage 2. Michael McDowell, Daytona winner, in second.

5:08 p.m.:  Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell and a few others into pit road for green flag stops.

5:03 p.m.: 

4:49 p.m.:  Stage 2 underway and Keselowski is clinging to his lead. Chase Elliott all the way back to 22nd. 

4:39 p.m. End Stage 1:  Brad Keselowski takes his first stage win of the year after hanging around in the top five for most of the race. 

4:28 p.m.:  21 laps to go in Stage 1, Logano out front with Chase Elliott right on him. Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney round out the top 10. 

4:24 p.m.:  Bubba Wallace is having an issue with an oil leak, so he's losing lots of laps right now.

4:19 p.m.:  Caution flag out after debris on the track. Kevin Harvick losing air in his front driver-side tire.

4:14 p.m.:  41 laps down in Vegas, Denny Hamlin and his pajamas still out in front.

4:08 p.m.:  We have a green flag again, Denny Hamlin jumps out to first. Keselowski and Kyle Larson behind him. Chase Elliott had some trouble in the pit, so he's lost some time. 

4:00 p.m.:  Competition caution at lap 25, with Chase Elliott out front. 

3:53 p.m.:  Into Lap 10 (of 267), William Byron at front, followed by Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson. Larson and Truex jockeying for fourth place. 

3:49 p.m.:  Green flag in Vegas, and the feidl stretches to four wide in the midfield and three wide at the front.

3:36 p.m.:  No cars to the back as we get started in Sin City.

3:30 p.m.:  Not far from race start today in Nevada.

NASCAR race start time today

The green flag for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is scheduled to wave at 3:49 p.m. ET.

NASCAR at Las Vegas lineup

Here is the complete starting lineup for Sunday's NASCAR race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube:

Driver Car No. Team
Kevin Harvick 4 Stewart-Haas Racing
William Byron 24 Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Larson 5 Hendrick Motorsports
Martin Truex Jr. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing
Michael McDowell 34 Front Row Motorsports
Denny Hamlin 11 Joe Gibbs Racing
Kurt Busch 1 Chip Ganassi Racing
Chase Elliott 9 Hendrick Motorsports
Alex Bowan 48 Hendrick Motorsports
Brad Keselowski 2 Team Penske
Tyler Reddick 8 Richard Childress Racing
Austin Dillon 3 Richard Childress Racing
Ryan Newman 6 Roush Fenway Racing
Kyle Busch 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
Joey Logano 22 Team Penske
Christopher Bell 20 Joe Gibbs Racing
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing
Chris Buescher 17 Roush Fenway Racing
Ryan Preece 37 JTG Daugherty Racing
Cole Custer 41 Stewart-Haas Racing
Ross Chastain 42 Chip Ganassi Racing
Daniel Suarez 99 TrackHouse Racing
Bubba Wallace 23 23XI Racing
Chase Briscoe 14 Stewart-Haas Racing
Justin Haley 77 Spire Motorsports
Ryan Blaney 12 Team Penske
Anthony Alfredo 38 Front Row Motorsports
Aric Almirola 10 Stewart-Haas Racing
Erik Jones 43 Richard Petty Motorsports
Matt DiBenedetto 21 Wood Brothers Racing
Garrett Smithley 53 Rick Ware Racing
Cody Ware 51 Petty Ware Racing
Corey LaJoie 7 Spire Motorsports
BJ McLeod 78 Live Fast Motorsports
Josh Bilicki 52 Rick Ware Racing
Quin Houff 00 StarCom Racing
Joey Gase 15 Rick Ware Racing
Timmy Hill 66 Motorsports Business Management

Joe Rivera