Kyle Larson passes Chase Briscoe with 7 laps left to win for the fourth time at Kansas Speedway

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Larson has always found it easier to be the hunter than the hunted.

He won't have much choice in the matter now.

The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion capped a dominant performance at Kansas Speedway on Sunday by passing Chase Briscoe with seven laps left and leading the rest of the way, leaving Larson to wheel his No. 5 Chevrolet into victory lane for a record-tying fourth time at the mile-and-a-half oval and with a padded lead in the Chase for the championship standings.

Larson won each of the first two stages and broke his own record by leading 235 laps, allowing him to turn the slimmest of leads — a single point over Denny Hamlin at the start of the day — into a 26-point advantage heading to Las Vegas next weekend.

"Such a good day," Larson said. "I was going to be happy with second how the race went, but to get the lead, that's a big deal."

Briscoe chased down Larson throughout the final stage, finally getting around him with 30 laps to go. But after briefly pulling away, the No. 19 Toyota began to get loose, and Briscoe brushed the wall. Larson closed in on the lead again, made a move on the low side and powered away, taking the checkered flag for the second time in three races.

He also won at St. Louis, a victory that had ended a maddening 51-race winless drought.

"I think it's easier to be the hunter than the hunted," Larson said. "With me out front, I'm just defending, trying to guess on what the fast lines are, and when he got in front of me he started getting really loose."

So loose that Briscoe drifted all the way back to fourth. Austin Cindric wound up second and Hamlin finished third.

"It was better for me being in second. It would tighten me up and allow me to be a little better," Briscoe said, "and as soon as I got the lead I got really free again. Frustrating for sure."

Cindric spent much of the day stalking Larson but was never able to get his No. 2 Ford around him. He might have been the fastest car on the track at the end, too, but Cindric was too far back to mount a challenge for the victory.

"I wish I would have had at least a shot at it. I thought we could join the fun at least," Cindric said, "but proud of the effort."

It was a similar story — and a bittersweet day — for Hamlin, whose strong third-place run nevertheless cost him in the points race. The revamped Chase format offers a big reward for wins, and Larson was the one doing a celebratory burnout at the end.

"Just didn't quite have it today," Hamlin said. "We could be really good in the long run. In the short run, the 5 was really good. The 2 was good. And we just couldn't quite hold those guys off, or keep them close enough in the short run."

Persistent rain earlier in the weekend washed out practice and qualifying, leaving the starting lineup to be set by a combination of last week's results at Bristol and owner points. That left Larson in the enviable spot of starting alongside Joey Logano on the front row, and the fortunate position of having had so much success at Kansas that missing out on practice really didn't matter.

Larson's fourth win tied Hamlin's record for the track, and he's been first or second in seven of the past 11 races there.

"I feel like if we can just click it, we're the most comfortable on these (mile-and-a-half tracks)," Larson said. "Man, what a day. I thought we'd have a good shot. I didn't think we'd have a max points-type day, so I'm just thrilled."

One week after Carson Hocevar's bump sent Ryan Blaney into the wall at Bristol, leading to a pit-road fracas, the driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet was involved in another caution. This time, after running near the front through the opening stage, Hocevar appeared to get bumped from behind on a restart, sending him into Bubba Wallace in a spin that collected several other cars.

Hocevar wound up finishing 33rd. Blaney started 25th due to the qualifying rainout and finished fifth.

"The guy leading the points won the race. Kind of dominated," said Blaney, who is now 91 points back of Larson in the standings. "It is what it is. You just have to keep grinding and working hard, and try to get to victory lane a couple of times."

The team co-owned by Jimmie Johnson announced the signing of Erik Jones to a multiyear extension to continue driving the No. 43 Toyota. The move provides some stability to Legacy Motor Club, which is replacing John Hunter Nemechek with Josh Berry in the No. 42 next season, and will have Riley Herbst driving the No. 84 that Johnson had driven in select races.

The NASCAR Cup Series continues its stretch of three straight races on 1.5-mile ovals with Las Vegas next Sunday. Hamlin won the race there in March, when he overcame a pit-road speeding penalty to pick up his first win of the season.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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