In the final stage of yesterday’s Goodyear 400, Kyle Larson turned a Martin Truex Jr. cakewalk into a study in suspense, but Larson couldn’t keep Truex out of Victory Lane in the 12th NASCAR Cup Series race of the season.
Truex swept the first two stages and led 248 laps to win his third event of the season and remain the only multiple winner in the series this year.
Larson, who gained time by pitting one lap earlier, stayed within a second of Truex until the final few laps, when Truex finally pulled away to win by 2.571 seconds. No previous stage winner had ever gone on to claim victory at Darlington.
The victory was the second at Darlington for the driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and the 30th of his career. Larson finished in second, with Kyle Busch, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin rounding out the top 5.