The winner of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway has now won three times in as many playoff rounds. He has an opportunity to go 4 for 4 and win the championship.
Kyle Larson won for the third time in seven playoff races Sunday, capturing the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500. The victory in the opening race of the Round of 8 moved Larson into the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 7.
He won previously at Bristol (Round of 16 eliminator) and the Charlotte Roval (Round of 12 eliminator). In this win, he beat runner-up William Byron by just under half a second in another 1-2 finish for Hendrick Motorsports.
Below is more about Larson’s win Sunday, plus the complete results of the race:
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Who won the NASCAR race yesterday?
NASCAR Cup playoff standings
With Larson locked in, the playoff battle is now for the remaining three spots in the Championship 4. Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch hold those spots after Texas. Second-place driver Blaney has a 17-point advantage over Chase Elliott, the first driver outside the top four. Elliott is eight points behind fourth-place driver Busch.
The drivers at the bottom of the standings have a lot of work to do to qualify on points alone. Joey Logano is dead last and 43 points behind Busch after a 30th-place finish Sunday. Martin Truex Jr. fell to seventh after a late wreck took him out of the race. He’s 22 behind Busch.
The easiest path for those two past champions will be winning in the next two weeks, at Kansas or Martinsville.
| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | x-Kyle Larson | 4123 |
| 2 | Ryan Blaney | 4072 |
| 3 | Denny Hamlin | 4064 |
| 4 | Kyle Busch | 4063 |
| 5 | Chase Elliott | 4055 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 4048 |
| 7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 4041 |
| 8 | Joey Logano | 4020 |
x-Clinched spot in Championship 4.
MORE: NASCAR playoffs, explained
NASCAR results from Texas
Just two current playoff drivers finished in the top five in the Round of 8 opening race: Larson and Brad Keselowski, who finished fourth. Previously eliminated playoff drivers William Byron (second), Christopher Bell (third) and Kevin Harvick (fifth) rounded out the group.
The second race in the Round of 8 is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 24 (3 p.m. ET; NBC, TSN, MRN).
| Finish | Driver |
| 1 | P-Kyle Larson |
| 2 | William Byron |
| 3 | Christopher Bell |
| 4 | P-Brad Keselowski |
| 5 | Kevin Harvick |
| 6 | P-Ryan Blaney |
| 7 | P-Chase Elliott |
| 8 | P-Kyle Busch |
| 9 | Tyler Reddick |
| 10 | Daniel Suarez |
| 11 | P-Denny Hamlin |
| 12 | Erik Jones |
| 13 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| 14 | Austin Dillon |
| 15 | Chase Briscoe |
| 16 | Kurt Busch |
| 17 | Michael McDowell |
| 18 | Aric Almirola |
| 19 | Cole Custer |
| 20 | Corey LaJoie |
| 21 | Chris Buescher |
| 22 | BJ McLeod |
| 23 | David Starr |
| 24 | Garrett Smithley |
| 25 | P-Martin Truex Jr. |
| 26 | Josh Bilicki |
| 27 | Timmy Hill |
| 28 | Ross Chastain |
| 29 | Anthony Alfredo |
| 30 | P-Joey Logano |
| 31 | Quin Houff |
| 32 | Bubba Wallace |
| 33 | Alex Bowman |
| 34 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 35 | Ryan Newman |
| 36 | Ryan Preece |
| 37 | Justin Haley |
| 38 | Cody Ware |
| 39 | Joey Gase |
P-Playoff driver.
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