Kyle Larson celebrates with son after likely nabbing spot in NASCAR Cup Series playoffs

Someone was there to join Kyle Larson as he climbed out of his car.

Larson’s 9-year-old son, Owen, dashed across the race track and leaped onto the window on the driver’s side of his father’s Chevrolet.

Kyle Larson, a NASCAR Cup Series veteran, was initially trying to get on top of his car — the traditional race winner’s celebration — but his son beat him to it. The previous series champion balanced on the side of his window and pumped his arms in the air while Owen stood atop his car.

“Such a great, great job by this Hendrick Cars Chevy team, just their execution,” Larson told FOX Sports as Owen ran down the frontstretch and took the checkered flag. “Pit road. Restarts. All that was great.

“Cool to get a win here at Vegas again. Back-to-back. Swept all the stages again. Can’t ask for much more.”

Larson’s third career win at Las Vegas on Sunday — his first Top 10 finish of the season that almost assuredly secures his place in the 2024 playoffs — was never in question.

Not when a red flag halted action on the track for about 20 minutes, nor when the field restarted following cautions late in the second and final stages.

Even on the race’s final lap, Tyler Reddick had a shot. But he could only push forward so much.

“Kyle (Larson) did a really good job there of pretty much taking every option I had there to close the gap,” Reddick said afterward. “He seemed pretty good in the middle, and I was obviously really good on the bottom. He just never let me have it.”

Larson became the third straight Chevrolet driver to win a Cup race this year, following his teammate William Byron and Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing.

“Didn’t have anything for the 5 (Larson), or 45 (Reddick), all day,” said Ryan Blaney, who finished third. “Chevys are still fast. Toyotas are still fast. Fords, we had a good showing today too, we just got a little bit of work to do.”

Ross Chastain goes from the rear to the top-five

As NASCAR heads to Phoenix Raceway’s mile-long oval next Sunday, Ross Chastain is still running fast.

He wasn’t in the Championship 4, but he won the last Cup Series championship race at Phoenix, becoming the first driver in 11 years to do so as he held off Blaney, who finished second and claimed his first Cup title.

Chastain was sent to the rear for a penalty at the start of Sunday’s race at Las Vegas and worked through the field to finish Stage 1 in the Top 10. He surged toward the front during the final stage, even holding the race lead late, and finished fourth.

“It was pretty cool to see Blaney blocking me at the end,” Chastain said with a smile. “Pretty cool to see his, uh, evolution with the air blocking. Proud of him.”