Kyle Larson wins at Bristol as 2 former NASCAR champions eliminated from playoffs

Just minutes after Kyle Larson crossed the finish line on the most dominating victory ever for a Hendrick Motorsports driver, his team rushed his 9-year-old son to the winning Chevrolet.

Owen Larson was placed on the window, half in the car, half out, as his dad drove a victory lap around Bristol Motor Speedway with his son holding the No. 1 finger in the air. He later joined his dad atop the car during Saturday night's victory lane celebration.

“We had a little boys’ weekend here this weekend,” Larson said. “We’ll bring some hardware home tonight, too.”

Larson dominated the first elimination race of NASCAR's 10-race playoff portion of the season by leading all but 38 of the 500 laps at the track in Bristol, Tennessee — the most laps led ever in a race by a Hendrick driver. It easily moved him into the second round of the playoffs, while former NASCAR champions Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr., as well as Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton, were eliminated from the 16-driver field.

“I’ve had a lot of good cars since I’ve come to Hendrick Motorsports, but man, that was just great execution all weekend by the team,” Larson said. “We dominate a lot of races but we might not close them all out, so it feels really good to close one out here.”

The first of three elimination races in the 10-race playoffs began with Denny Hamlin, Truex, Keselowski and Burton all below the cutline and facing elimination from the 16-driver field.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner with four career wins at Bristol, was never really worried and finished fourth.

“My aspiration was winning,” Hamlin said. “It's as good as what we've been here the last couple times. It's all offense from this point forward.”

Burton, who used a surprise win at Daytona last month to qualify for the playoffs in the final few weeks before he loses his seat with Wood Brothers Racing, was doubtful to recover enough to advance and finished 35th. Keselowski, the 2012 Cup champion, and 2017 champion Truex had a better shot at salvaging their playoffs but both came up empty.

Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road, taking him out of contention to advance, and Keselowski just didn't have the pace. Joe Gibbs Racing had two of its four cars eliminated from the playoffs as Ty Gibbs was also penalized for speeding.

“That was just unfortunate there,” said Gibbs, who finished 15th. “Speeding penalty is on me. It’s my fault.”

Keselowski finished 26th and lamented the lack of speed in his RFK Racing Ford.

“Didn't have the pace we wanted. We ran as hard as we could, there just wasn't anything there,” Keselowski said. “Just gotta be faster.”

Truex is retiring from full-time racing at the end of the season.

“That kind of screws up your whole season,” Truex said of the speeding penalty. “It's on me. It was my mistake. Just really sad for my guys. We had a really good car. I hate I screwed it up, would have at least tried to see what we could do.”

Larson, meanwhile, led 462 of 500 laps, the most since Cale Yarborough led 495 laps in 1977. Larson's laps led is the most ever by a Hendrick driver and marked the fifth win of the season for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet.

It's an impressive stat considering the Hendrick team has fielded cars for Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr., among others.

“That's pretty awesome because there's been some legendary Hall of Famers race for Hendrick Motorsports, and we've all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson dominate,” Larson said. “So pretty cool to get my name on another record at Hendrick Motorsports.”

Daniel Suarez, who finished four laps down in 31st, squeezed out the final spot into the second round of the playoffs by 11 points over Gibbs.

Also advancing were Chase Elliott, who finished second, Christopher Bell, who finished fifth, regular-season champion Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman.

Hendrick's entire four-car Chevrolet lineup advanced, as did all three Ford drivers from Team Penske. But Toyota lost a pair of JGR entries, and Ford lost two cars in Keselowski and Burton.

Corey LaJoie had already been told by Spire Motorsports it was not bringing him back next year, which gave him the rest of this season to finish out strong.

Then Spire threw him a lifeline with an unusual driver swap with Rick Ware Racing that will move Justin Haley into the Spire No. 7. LaJoie will replace Haley at RWR starting next week at Kansas Speedway.

While Haley's deal guarantees him the seat in 2025, LaJoie will have to earn the RWR ride. But in the meantime, he wanted one final good finish with Spire. He qualified ninth and was running 11th when he was involved in a crash that essentially ended his career with Spire.

NASCAR opens the second round of the playoffs at Kansas Speedway, where Reddick won last fall and Larson won in May. Bell takes a six-point lead over Larson into Kansas.

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

Kyle Larson, center back right, celebrates with his son Owen, center front right, and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, center left, after a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson (5) battles with Martin Truex Jr. (19) as they go into Turn 3 during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

John Hunter Nemechek (42) spins while coming out of Turn 4 as Kaz Grala (15) and Josh Bilicki (66) avoid him during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Alex Bowman (48) leads Kyle Larson (5) and Martin Truex Jr. (19) at the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson (5) leads Justin Haley (51) and Todd Gilliland (38) during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

Kyle Larson, center, celebrates with his son Owen after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)

SEATTLE (AP) — Washington made its debut as one of the newest members of the Big Ten Conference with an emphatic victory and the Huskies defense leading the way.

Will Rogers threw a pair of first-half touchdowns to Denzel Boston, Jonah Coleman added a second-half touchdown run, and Washington stymied Northwestern in a 24-5 win on Saturday night.

The Huskies (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) rebounded from last week’s stinging Apple Cup loss to rival Washington State in their first conference game by thumping the overmatched Wildcats.

The Huskies held Northwestern to 112 total yards, grabbed two interceptions and had a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter.

“Our defense just played extraordinary. I don't really know if there's many other good adjectives to describe (it),” Washington coach Jedd Fisch said.

Rogers was excellent in the first half when he found Boston on touchdowns of 46 yards on Washington’s second possession and a 13-yard strike in the second quarter.

Coleman scored on an 8-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the fourth quarter, capping a drive where he made an excellent catch then cleanly hurdled Northwestern Evan Smith as part of a 16-yard reception.

Rogers finished 20 of 28 passing for 223 yards, while Boston had seven catches for a career-high 121 yards.

“It's going to go down in the books that we won our first game in the Big Ten," Boston said. "I think that's a big thing not only for us but for our alumni to see us continuing what they began years ago. It's exciting. A great beginning to a new start.”

The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) played without top running back Cam Porter due to a lower-body injury. Porter was Northwestern’s leading rusher on the season and the offense suffered with him unavailable. The Wildcats had just 59 yards rushing and their inability to get any push against Washington defensive front was most obvious near the goal line.

Washington defensive lineman Isaiah Ward said the Huskies wanted to “show we could stop the run,” this week.

Northwestern received a gift when Rogers fumbled a snap in the third quarter and the Wildcats recovered at the Huskies 33. Northwestern had first-and-goal at the 4, but couldn’t convert on three attempts, and on fourth-and-goal from the 1 opted for an 18-yard field goal rather than going for the touchdown.

The kick by Jack Olsen pulled the Wildcats within 17-5.

Early in the fourth quarter, Northwestern received a 96-yard kickoff return from Joseph Himon II to the Washington 2. A penalty moved the ball to the 1, but the Wildcats failed on four attempts – three of them passes – and turned the ball over on downs.

Quarterback Jack Lausch was 8 of 27 for 53 yards passing and two interceptions.

The last time Washington held an opponent to exactly five points was Oct. 28, 1939 when the Huskies held on for an 8-5 win over Stanford.

It was also the first time Washington held a conference opponent without a touchdown since Utah in the 2018 Pac-12 title game.

Northwestern: The Wildcats will gladly take the early bye week to get healthy and start to figure out their offensive woes. In its two games against Power Four teams so far this season (Duke and Washington), Northwestern has been held under 300 yards total offense in both.

Washington: The competition wasn’t the best, but the Huskies continue to be stout defensively. Take away the first half last week against Washington State when the Cougars scored 17 points, the Huskies have allowed just 24 points in the other 14 quarters this season.

Northwestern: has a weekend off before hosting Indiana on Oct. 5.

Washington: at Rutgers next Friday.

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Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston catches a touchdown against Northwestern defensive back Theran Johnson during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Northwestern linebacker Kenny Soares Jr. (5) and defensive lineman Anto Saka, right, celebrate a sack of Washington quarterback Will Rogers during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch (12) is pressured by Washington linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala (11) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington fans celebrate a touchdown by wide receiver Denzel Boston during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Fans watch from the upper concourse during the first half of an NCAA college football game between Washington and Northwestern, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington quarterback Will Rogers (7) greets wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) after throwing a touchdown pass to Boston during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington head coach Jedd Fisch walks on the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington running back Jonah Coleman (1) runs the football against Northwestern defensive lineman Tyler Gant (54) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington players walk to the sideline during a timeout against Northwestern during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington quarterback Will Rogers runs the football for a first down against Northwestern during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Washington wide receiver Denzel Boston (12) celebrates his touchdown with tight end Decker DeGraaf, front right, during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Northwestern, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)