Kyle Larson is arguably one of the best drivers of the modern NASCAR era, having won the Cup Series championship in 2021 and winding up in Victory Lane quite a few times since. However, Larson made a critical mistake while racing in the Xfinity Series at Sonoma on June 10th, 2023, one that ultimately cost him and the No. 17 Camaro the win.
Larson showed the way in the No. 17 NASCAR Chevy for much of the race, defending against charges from Aric Almirola’s No. 28 Ford Mustang as the laps ticked down. However, the race changed in Almirola favor, as he put the No. 28 Mustang in the lead on a restart on Lap 65 and didn’t look back, even under pressure from Larson’s No. 17 Camaro. Then, on Lap 72, Larson overshot the No. 17 Camaro into Turn 11, missing the hairpin and lightly clipping the tire barriers, allowing Almirola’s No. 28 Mustang to take off with the race lead.
Larson’s mistake in the No. 17 Camaro also opened the door for A.J. Allmendinger to pass him for second in the No. 10 Camaro, relegating Larson to a third-place result.
“I just got too greedy,” said Larson. “I was kind of tucked up right behind [Almirola], clipped the tires, and it knocked the wheel out of my hands. After that the toe was off. I was really tight in the left and really loose in the right, so I couldn’t make runs at it…”
He added, “I’m really mad at myself right now, but I’m really proud of the car [Hendrick Motorsports] brought. Congrats to Aric, too. He did a really good job out in front of me, hitting his marks. He could kind of get away from me in a couple of important areas and would make me have to work hard behind him. So hats off to him and that team.”
It’s worth noting that the top four finishers were Cup Series regulars rather than full-time Xfinity Series drivers, including Almirola winning in the No. 28 Mustang, A.J. Allmendinger’s No. 10 Camaro in second, Larson’s No. 17 Camaro in third and Ty Gibb’s fourth-place result in the No. 19 Toyota Supra. Parker Kligerman’s No. 48 NASCAR Chevy finished fifth, the best of all the regular Xfinity Series drivers.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | 28 | Aric Almirola(i) | Michael Roberts Construction Ford | 79 | 17 | Ford Mustang |
2 | 5 | 10 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Gabriel Glas Chevrolet | 79 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro |
3 | 1 | 17 | Kyle Larson(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 79 | 53 | Chevrolet Camaro |
4 | 7 | 19 | Ty Gibbs(i) | He Gets Us Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
5 | 12 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
6 | 26 | 00 | Cole Custer | Haas Automation Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
7 | 2 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | BRANDT Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
8 | 13 | 21 | Austin Hill | Bennett Transportation Chevrolet | 79 | 4 | Chevrolet Camaro |
9 | 10 | 18 | Sammy Smith # | Pilot Flying J Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
10 | 6 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
11 | 3 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Whelen Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
12 | 14 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | AM Technical Solutions Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
13 | 8 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
14 | 20 | 16 | Chandler Smith # | Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
15 | 23 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Monster Energy Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
16 | 9 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Yahoo Toyota | 79 | 1 | Toyota Supra |
17 | 24 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Fox Sports/Spartan Waste Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
18 | 15 | 91 | Ross Chastain(i) | Skip Barber Racing School Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
19 | 25 | 36 | Josh Bilicki | SBC Contractors Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
20 | 27 | 26 | Kaz Grala | FDC Black Cherry Bourbon Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
21 | 28 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Menards/Patriot Lighting Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
22 | 18 | 8 | Kyle Weatherman | Team Schuler/Fanttik Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
23 | 32 | 4 | Ty Dillon(i) | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
24 | 33 | 43 | Dylan Lupton | Lupton Excavation Inc Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
25 | 11 | 29 | Alex Labbe | RSS Racing Ford | 79 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
26 | 30 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Bommarito.com/EasyCare Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
27 | 17 | 7 | Daniel Suarez(i) | Refology/Blast Equality Collab Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
28 | 34 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | CMRroofing.com Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
29 | 31 | 53 | Brad Perez | APEX Coffee Toyota | 79 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
30 | 36 | 02 | Blaine Perkins # | To The Point Inc. Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
31 | 38 | 38 | Joe Graf Jr | ArmsList.com Ford | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 29 | 24 | Connor Mosack | Open Eyes Toyota | 78 | 0 | Toyota Supra |
33 | 19 | 8 | Josh Berry | Tire Pros Love The Drive Chevrolet | 76 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
34 | 21 | 44 | Sage Karam | Quality Roof Seamers/ToughGuard Chevrolet | 71 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
35 | 22 | 92 | Josh Williams | Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet | 60 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
36 | 35 | 45 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | ForeverLawn Chevrolet | 59 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
37 | 37 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | DUDE Wipes Chevrolet | 44 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
38 | 16 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff # | FUNKAWAY Chevrolet | 21 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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