Kyle Larson finished runner-up in a ‘really special’ Hendrick Motorsports

Kyle Larson returns to victory road after finishing runner-up to team-mate William Byron at Martinsville Speedway.

Larson leaves Martinsville not only as the runner up in the race but also as the new championship leader as he leapfrogged Martin Truex Jr for the top of the standings.

The 31-year-old played an integral part in the Hendrick Motorsports 1-2-3 finish in their 40th-anniversary race and led all of the opening 80 laps in stage one yesterday.

After the race Larson spoke to Fox Sports and spoke on how special the 1-2-3 finish was for him and the whole team:

“This is really special to get a 1-2-3 with William (Byron), Chase (Elliott) and I. A great day for Hendrick Motorsports it has been a great 40 seasons for them, it is really cool to have 1,500 people here from Hendrick Motorsports to celebrate and congrats to William (Byron) he did a really good job he schooled us all after the green flag stop he did, he did a really good job passing all of us and then he set a good pace and was able to get through traffic good.”

With only three laps to go with three Hendrick Motorsports cars running inside the top three, a caution came out and backed up the pack, Larson also discussed how he did not know how aggressively to drive in the NASCAR Overtime:

“It was sketchy I was not sure how aggressive they were going to be, I knew William was going to be very aggressive because he was going to win until that situation came out. Thankfully it all worked out and we got a top-three finish for HMS.”

Larson may have lost out on the race win once again this week but still leaves Martinsville with confidence in his team and his car:

“My car felt really good, I think we were all kind of the same speed honestly. Just lost a little bit of track position in the second stage and was never able to overcome that. A solid day congrats to Rick Hendrick, Linda (Hendrick), and all of Hendrick Motorsports here at the track and back home, just an awesome day.”