A flat tire on the final lap of Saturday's race at Pocono ended Kyle Larson's winning streak. He was in the lead and ready to make it four consecutive points race wins this year. Alex Bowman, in second, was already apologizing to his team on the radio after relinquishing the lead to Larson with three laps to go.
But a lucky turn of events put Bowman in Victory Lane for the third time in 2021. Larson's left front tire blew on the last lap, sending him into the outside wall. He finished in ninth. Kyle Busch finished in second place. William Byron finished third.
"Hate to win one that way, but hell yeah!" Bowman said on NBCSN. "I'll take it."
Larson appeared somewhat stunned in his postrace interview, possibly to the same degree as Bowman, and called the result "a little bit laughable."
"Just cause I can't believe it," Larson said. "Hate that we didn't get another win. Would've been cool to win five in a row, but just wasn't meant to be I guess today."
Larson has won four points races this season, in addition to the non-points All-Star Race, and was chasing a win that would have put him ahead of Cup Series points leader Denny Hamlin. Larson instead remains second in points, eight behind Hamlin, who finished fourth at Pocono and is still seeking his first victory this season.
Hamlin led laps on Saturday, along with teammate Busch, who appeared ready to battle with Larson for the lead after green flag pit stops cycled through in the final stage. But a caution for debris forced the field to bunch up, and Bowman lined up in the front row on the inside lane ahead of Ryan Blaney, while Busch, Larson and Hamlin lined up on the outside. No. 48 crew chief Greg Ives called that the "winning move" by Bowman.
When the green flag waved, Bowman was able to pull ahead with a shove by Blaney to take the lead. It was then up to him to fend off Larson, who drove up to second, in the final 18 laps. He was nearly able to do so, but Larson completed a pass on the inside coming to the last three laps.
It looked like it was Larson's race to win from there, but then a stroke of luck hit for the No. 48 team. Bowman's earlier victories this season, at Richmond and Dover, have also been as a late-race leader. At Richmond, Bowman led in just the final 10 laps of the race, and at Dover, his team posted a fast pit stop in the final 100 laps to swipe the lead from Larson, who won the first two stages of that event.
"I feel like we've always been a team that ends the day better than we've started the day," Bowman said. "We've never been that win stages type of team, but we've won our share of races here lately."
"I don't know exactly what it is but glad it's working out lately," he added.
The Busch brothers, Kyle and Kurt, respectively, won the first two stages of Saturday's race. Kyle Busch said it was "impossible to pass" and that he was "dying tight" behind Bowman and Larson in the final laps, and couldn't move through traffic to make a run for the lead.
"Unfortunately with our JGR Toyotas, it's just the struggle in traffic," Kyle Busch said. "We just don't quite have what we need to be able to slice through guys and everybody was hindered, but it seems like us a little bit more."
A Hendrick Motorsports driver has now won the last six points races and will look to keep the streak alive Sunday when the Cup Series returns to Pocono Raceway. With the invert of the top-20 finishers, Chris Buescher will start on the pole with Michael McDowell in the front row.
NASCAR has approved seven drivers, including Larson, to use a backup car for Sunday's race. The other six drivers are Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo, Ross Chastain, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Newman and Cole Custer. They will drop to the rear at the start of the race, which is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
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NASCAR at Pocono I Race Results
Order Driver Car No. Time behind leader (seconds)
1 Alex Bowman 48 —
2 Kyle Busch 18 0.683
3 William Byron 24 1.37
4 Denny Hamlin 11 1.513
5 Ryan Blaney 12 4.503
6 Kurt Busch 1 5.444
7 Joey Logano 22 5.789
8 Kevin Harvick 4 6.456
9 Kyle Larson 5 6.839
10 Brad Keselowski 2 7.432
11 Tyler Reddick 8 12.375
12 Chase Elliott 9 12.598
13 Daniel Suárez 99 13.876
14 Bubba Wallace 23 14.571
15 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 47 14.933
16 Aric Almirola 10 15.122
17 Christopher Bell 20 15.692
18 Martin Truex Jr. 19 16.402
19 Michael McDowell 34 17.434
20 Chris Buescher 17 18.129
21 Austin Dillon 3 18.539
22 Erik Jones 43 19.333
23 Ryan Preece 37 20.942
24 Chase Briscoe 14 23.62
25 Cody Ware 51 27.918
26 Anthony Alfredo 38 31.095
27 Justin Haley 77 35.438
28 James Davison 15 37.765
29 Garrett Smithley 53 43.571
30 BJ McLeod 78 49.651
31 Quin Houff 0 51.254
32 Matt DiBenedetto 21 -1 lap
33 Ross Chastain 42 -1
34 Josh Bilicki 52 -2
35 Timmy Hill 66 -4
36 Corey LaJoie 7 -5
37 Ryan Newman 6 -34
38 Cole Custer 41 -117
