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Kyle Larson wins NASCAR All-Star Race, $1 millon paycheck

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Kyle Larson made it three wins in a row on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, passing Chase Elliott and fending off Brad Keselowski in the final laps to win the 2021 All-Star Race and pocket the $1 million prize.

Kyle Larson held off Brad Keselowski in a spirited duel in the final 10 laps Sunday to win the NASCAR All-Star Race and collect the $1 million paycheck at Texas Motor Speedway.

The victory comes after Larson has captured the past two points races, winning at Sonoma and Charlotte. The win also is Larson’s second All-Star triumph in the last three years.

MORE: NASCAR All-Star Race results

MORE: What drivers said

“That was all you,” crew chief Cliff Daniels said after the finish to Larson. “That was all you Kyle Larson.”

“We all earned that one,” Larson responded.

“That played out exactly how I wanted it to.”

Keselowski finished second. Chase Elliott was third. Joey Logano placed fourth. Ryan Blaney completed the top five.

“That last restart worked out exactly how I needed it to,” Larson told FS1. “I wanted Chase to not get a good run down the back. Thankfully, I think the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney) got to his inside. I just shoved him down the back and he probably thought I was going to just follow him. I thought there had to be enough grip above where we’d been running for one corner. It was a little slick up there, but I was able to get it and hold him off from there. I can’t believe it.”

Said Keselowski to FS1: “It feels like running second to the Hendrick cars right now is an accomplishment. They are just stupid fast. I had him off Turn 4, but they just have so much speed. He just motored right back by me, like damn! It feels like a first-in-class day with the Discount Tired Ford. The team did a great job of executing and getting us in position, we just didn’t have enough speed to make the most of it. It was good execution day though and I am proud of that.”

Here is how the event went:

NASCAR OPEN

Segment winners advancing to the NASCAR All-Star Race were Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick and Aric Almirola. Matt DiBenedetto won the fan vote to advance to the NASCAR All-Star Race.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 1

Christopher Bell spun on the second lap but didn’t make any contact with the field or the wall. Larson led nine of the first 15 laps to win the round. William Byron was second. Kyle Busch was third.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 2

The round started with the top 12 cars inverted, as selected in a random draw. That put Blaney first. He led all 15 laps to win the round. Keselowski was second. Chastain placed third. Byron started the round 11th and finished fifth. There were no incidents in the round.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 3

The 21-car field was inverted before this round. The invert put Alex Bowman into the third row for the restart. He went on to win the round, leading nine lap. DiBenedetto was second. Almirola was third. There were no incidents in the round.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 4

The top nine cars were inverted before this 15-lap round, the final 15-lap round of the night. The invert put Byron on the pole. He led all 15 laps. Larson was second. Denny Hamlin placed third. There were no incidents in the round.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 5

Elliott won this 30-lap round. His team also had the fastest pit stop to earn the $100,000 bonus. Byron was second. Larson was third. Chastain spun after contact from behind by Ryan Newman in the round’s only incident.

NASCAR ALL-STAR RACE ROUND 6

Larson led the final eight laps in the 10-lap round to win and earn the $1 million check.

NEXT: The series makes its debut at Nashville Superspeedway in the first Cup race of the season on NBCSN. The race is at 3:30 p.m. ET June 20 on NBCSN