Kyle Larson is known for riding the outside wall.
Austin Dillon is not.
The difference showed with five laps left in the Ford EcoBoost 300 as Dillon, who had led since Lap 180, hit the wall in Turn 4.
Larson took advantage of the miscue by Dillon to win his third career Xfinity Series race.
“I walked up to him in victory lane, and I said, ‘Teach me how to get around the top,’ ” Dillon said. “Obviously I need to change my line around, so maybe I can talk to him and figure something out. He’s very good at finding that edge up there.”
Chris Buescher finished 11th to clinch the Xfinity Series championship for his first NASCAR title. It is Roush Fenway Racing’s first Xfinity title since 2012.
WHY KYLE LARSON WON: Larson overtook Austin Dillon after he made contact with the wall in Turn 4 with five laps to go and kept Dillon behind.
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Chris Buescher, the 2015 Xfinity Series champion ran a steady race and did what he had to win the crown … Austin Dillon started third but didn’t lead until the final 25 laps. Then he settled for second after hitting the wall as he fended off Larson … Daniel Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire during the first round of green flag stops. The Joe Gibbs Racing rookie bounced back to finish sixth to secure rookie of the year honors.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: The No. 74 of Tim Viens brought out the first caution of the day when he spun after skimming off the No. 42 of Kyle Larson. Viens, in his first Xfinity start, wouldn’t finish the race. Team owner Mike Harmon would replace him and finish 33rd … JR Motorsports’ Ben Rhodes had to pit just after Lap 65 after he hit the wall and cut a tire. Rhodes finished 20th, two laps down in his final race with JRM … Kyle Busch was having a good day until an uncontrolled tire penalty with less than 25 laps left sent him to the back of the field where he crashed while avoiding a car on a Lap 21 restart.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “This is Championship week. It’s all about the champions.” – Kyle Larson on why he didn’t do a burnout to celebrate his win.
NOTABLE: Team Penske won the owner’s championship for the third year in a row … Daniel Suarez won rookie of the year honors … At one point there were only four cars on the lead lap … None of Kyle Larson’s four NASCAR wins have been in races in which Larson was eligible for points.
