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Kyle Larson holds off Joey Logano to win XFINITY Series Service King 300 in California

By Nick Tylwalk

March 25, 2017; Fontana, CA, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Kyle Larson (42) during the Service King 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
March 25, 2017; Fontana, CA, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Kyle Larson (42) during the Service King 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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No one at any level of NASCAR has as much momentum as Kyle Larson has right this moment.

Form is a concept that soccer fans know well, one that identifies which players and teams are performing up to their full potential at a given moment during the season. It applies to the ebbs and flows of the NASCAR season just as well, and Kyle Larson proved he’s the most in-form driver in the sport on Saturday by winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Service King 300.

Larson had a fast car all race long, running almost exclusively within the top five along with several other Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stars except when he had to battle back from a pit road speeding penalty. It wasn’t until the final third of the race’s final stage, though, that he was able to run down Joey Logano and take the lead.

Even after passing Logano, Larson had to survive a late restart with less than 10 laps to go. He chose the outside lane during the final restart, and with Logano occupied with getting around Kyle Busch, he was able to stay in front for the last three laps to capture his second XFINITY Series victory at his de facto home track, Auto Club Speedway.

“The racing there at the end with Joey was awesome,” Larson said during his Victory Lane interview with Fox Sports 1. “I honestly didn’t think that we’d be here yesterday. I was struggling bad in practice, fought the balance a lot throughout the race too and then finally in those last two runs we hit on it and felt good for the short run and throughout the long runs.”

Three XFINITY Series regulars off to good starts this season had nice runs at Fontana as well. Rookie William Byron continued to impress by coming home fifth, followed by Bubba Wallace, Elliott Sadler, Brennan Poole and Justin Allgaier. Cup Series regulars Logano (2nd), Busch (3rd), Erik Jones (4th) and Ty Dillon (1oth) made up the rest of the top 10. Busch also claimed both stage victories during the race.

Already on the pole for Sunday’s Auto Club 400, the question now becomes whether or not Larson can carry momentum from the XFINITY Series victory and make it a clean sweep of nearly everything worth winning this weekend in California.

“I hope it gives us some good momentum,” Larson said to Fox Sports. “I was really confident about our Target Chevy on the Cup side, so we’ll start from the pole tomorrow and hopefully be right here tomorrow.”

2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series Service King 300 results from Auto Club Speedway

(i) – Driver ineligible for XFINITY Series points

  1. Kyle Larson (i)
  2. Joey Logano (i)
  3. Kyle Busch (i)
  4. Erik Jones (i)
  5. William Byron
  6. Darrell Wallace Jr.
  7. Elliott Sadler
  8. Brennan Poole
  9. Justin Allgaier
  10. Ty Dillon (i)
  11. Daniel Hemric
  12. Blake Koch
  13. Michael Annett
  14. Casey Mears
  15. Ryan Reed
  16. J.J. Yeley
  17. Matt Tifft
  18. Corey Lajoie (i)
  19. Spencer Gallagher
  20. Dakoda Armstrong
  21. Ryan Sieg
  22. Jeremy Clements
  23. B.J. McLeod
  24. David Starr
  25. Martin Roy
  26. Garrett Smithley
  27. Ray Black Jr.
  28. Joey Gase
  29. Jeff Green
  30. Timmy Hill
  31. Harrison Rhodes
  32. Brandon Jones
  33. Brendan Gaughan
  34. Mike Harmon
  35. Cole Custer
  36. Paul Menard (i)
  37. Ross Chastain
  38. Brandon Hightower
  39. Stephen Leicht
  40. Jordan Anderson
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