Red-Hot Kyle Larson Looking To Keep NASCAR Streak Going

Story By: NASCAR – MARTINSVILLE, VA – After running out of gas with the lead on the final lap of the Daytona 500 and finishing runner-up in the three subsequent races, Kyle Larson finally got his first win of the season.

The No. 42 Chevrolet driver led a race-high 110 laps on his way to Victory Lane in last Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

This weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads back east to Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway where Larson will go for his second consecutive win and fifth straight top-two finish in Sunday’s STP 500 (2 p.m. ET on FS1).

“Our cars are by far as good as they’ve ever been, really good at every race track right now,” Larson said. “In both series I feel like I have a shot to win every time I go to the race track.”

Larson’s early-season performance, highlighted by his 3.8 average finish, has vaulted him to first in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings. He currently sits 29 points above second-place Chase Elliott. A Japanese-American, Larson is the first alumnus of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity development program to lead the Monster Energy Series in points.

In six career starts at Martinsville, the 24-year-old has finished better than 14th only once – third in last year’s spring race.

“In the past, I had race tracks where I knew I would be good at,” Larson said. “But right now we’re going to some tracks that aren’t great for me, and running up front. It’s a lot of fun to have that confidence in the race team, go to the race track, fight hard and run for wins.”

Bell ready to continue early-season success

There’s been no sophomore slump for Christopher Bell in his second full-time season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The 22-year-old Oklahoman tops the standings by seven points over defending series champion Johnny Sauter after an eighth-place finish at Daytona and win at Atlanta to open the season. Bell, who became the first driver to sweep the stages and win a race under NASCAR’s enhanced format at Atlanta, leads the Camping World Truck Series with seven playoff points.

On Saturday, Bell will attempt to extend his points lead in the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FOX) – the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a month.

In two career starts at Martinsville – both last season – the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports driver finished 19th (spring) and fourth (fall).

“The more seat time you have the better off you are, so I’m looking forward to going back to Martinsville for a third time,” Bell said. “It’s a tough track because it’s very unique – there’s nothing else out there like it. It’s a short track, it’s really small, there are a lot of vehicles out there on the track and because of all of that it’s pretty easy to get roughed up. You have to make sure you run a smart race yourself, but you also have to be extra careful of what the other drivers are doing around you because the quarters are so tight.”