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NASCAR: Kyle Larson Wins a Wild Roval Playoff Race

Kyle Larson is your NASCAR Bank of America Roval 400 winner. He claimed victory on the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. The Cup Playoff cutoff race ran 252.88 miles and saw its fair share of drama, including a Chase Elliot-Kevin Harvick collision.

Kyle Larson came into the race with plenty of playoff point room to spare. So the win comes as a nice bonus for the driver of the #5 Chevrolet. He bided his time for the majority of the race but turned in a strong finish to take the checkered flag. He doesn’t quite have a championship four spot guaranteed, but his win at the Roval 400 went a long way to making that a reality.

Kyle Busch won Stage 2, who came into the day tied with Chase Elliot at 9 points above the cutoff. Denny Hamlin won at Las Vegas and already held a guaranteed spot heading into the race. Chase Elliot won Stage 1 of the race, earning him some much-needed points before running into trouble with Kevin Harvick. After a touchy collision, the defending NASCAR Cup champion managed to finish the race and will advance.

The victory came as a surprise for Kyle Larson, who also claimed a win in the first playoff elimination race at Bristol.

“Did not see myself standing in victory lane next to this cool trophy today. We had battery issues, had to come from the back so many different times,” Larson said after the race. “But my team, they kept their heads in it, stayed calm, got the work done to get us repaired and out there and where we could compete hard. So just hats off to everybody on our 5 team. Pretty unbelievable day.”

Major NASCAR Cup Series Implications as Kevin Harvick is Eliminated After Collision with Chase Elliot

Kevin Harvick ran into Chase Elliot early on in Stage 3 of the Roval 400. Not long after, with just 11 laps to go, he wrecked and eliminated himself from playoff contention. He was barely above the cutoff at the time, trailing Chase Elliot and Kyle Busch.

NASCAR fans are accusing Harvick of payback after he collided with Chase Elliot at Bristol in the first playoff elimination race. The feud between the two started during another race won by Kyle Larson. Chase Elliott cut Kevin Harvick off with 35 laps remaining at Bristol Motor Speedway. The two made contact, forcing Elliot to pit. It set the stage for a wordy post-race exchange. And it very well may have led to the collision NASCAR fans witnessed during the Roval 400.