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Kyle Larson once had a thrilling last-lap showdown against Joey Logano at Rockingham Speedway. During the race at The Rock in 2013, Larson had a good restart in the #30 Chevrolet for the win. Logano closed the gap but came short to settle for a runner-up finish.
Driving for Turner Scott Motorsports, Larson, who started third before NASCAR dropped Rockingham from the schedule, pulled away in the final restart from Joey Logano and Brendan Gaughan. Logano chose the top lane before switching to the bottom on the final corner to try and make a pass, but to no avail.
The 2013 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 was Kyle Larson's first win in NASCAR. He signed with Chip Ganassi Racing the following year for his first full-time Cup Series schedule before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.
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Speaking about the final restart at Rockingham Speedway, the now 32-year-old driver said (via ESPN):
"I was definitely worried and I could see him getting closer and closer in the mirror and was hoping we could get to the line, and we got that yellow with just a couple to go."
The #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver admitted not being good on restarts, so he was surprised to pull away from the Truck field after taking the green-white-checkered flag.
"I'm usually not the best on restarts, so I was surprised I got that good of a start," he added.
The race was the final time NASCAR raced at Rockingham Speedway before the North Carolina-based track's return this year for the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. Sammy Smith won the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 (Xfinity), while Tyler Ankrum took the checkered flag in the Black's Tire 200 (Truck).
While Kyle Larson didn't participate in the race weekend, former #5 HMS driver Kasey Kahne graced the Xfinity Series event. Kahne, one of the fan favorites on the track, finished 14th in the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy after crashing twice on different occasions.
"We hate to see him win": Kyle Larson on Denny Hamlin at Bristol
Before Kyle Larson took a week off at Rockingham Speedway, the Californian fulfilled the triple header at Bristol Motor Speedway last week. He won two of his three entries, including the Food City 500 (Cup), where he denied Denny Hamlin a three-peat.
In a post-race interview with NASCAR reporter Jamie Little, the now 31-time Cup race winner said:
"If Denny’s in front of me, it could be a totally different story and be really hard to pass him. Glad to stop his three-peat. We hate to see him win. As I’m sure you guys do too." [2:08 onwards]
Larson also won the SciAps 300 (Xfinity) driving the #17 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. He beat JR Motorsports drivers Carson Kvapil, Justin Allgaier, and Sammy Smith, with Brandon Jones completing the top five.
The NASCAR Cup Series grid will return to action in the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 27. It will be a superspeedway race.
