NASCAR: Larson brings the 5 back to victory lane in Martinsville

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It was a dominant day by the Stewart-Haas organization, with polesitter Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, and Kevin Harvick combining to lead 264 laps of the 400 that were run on Sunday, but it was ultimately Kyle Larson who reigned supreme.

Winning his second race in the past three weekends, and his first race at the famed paper-clip short track, Larson and Crew Chief Cliff Daniels put the number 5 Hendrick machine back in victory lane in Martinsville for the first time since Hendrick Motorsports first victory in 1984 at the hands of Geoff Bodine. In 17 prior attempts, Larson admitted he “hated the track”, only chalking up 3 top 5 finishes and never finishing higher than 3rd, but after passing Joey Logano with 30 laps remaining, Larson hammered down and drove off to a 4+ second gap to win.

Further down the field, Chase Elliott made his return to the number 9 Napa Auto Parts Chevrolet, having missed six-weeks due to a broken leg after the Fontana race. With no expectations in his first start, the focus was on building back confidence and finding a rhythm, to which Elliott responded with a strong top-10 finish on the day.

Catch up on all the highlights from Martinsville below as NASCAR heads to ‘sweet home Alabama’ for one of two visits to Talladega Superspeedway on April 23rd.