June 14 (UPI) -- Kyle Larson pulled his No. 5 Chevrolet across the finish line first for the third-consecutive event at NASCAR's All-Star Race to extend the most dominant run of the 2021 season.
Larson led for 17 of the 100 laps as part of the six-segment event Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. He beat second-place Brad Keselowski to the checkered flag by .206 seconds on the 1.5-mile track. Larson claimed a $1 million prize for first place.
"I think I was so excited because there was a while where I didn't think I'd win," Larson told reporters. "Then to go and steal it there in a shootout from Chase Elliott, who's in my opinion like the most aggressive and best restarter, was really cool.
"And to win a lot of money is awesome, too."
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Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney followed Larson and Keselowski as Top-5 finishers. Alex Bowman, William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 10.
Byron led a race-high 30 laps. Blaney and Elliott led for 15 and 12 laps, respectively.
Kyle Busch led for the first six laps. Larson took over for laps 7 through 15. Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto, Bowman and Byron then exchanged the lead through lap 75.
Keselowski, Elliott and Larson battled for the win down the stretch. Larson took the lead for good with eight laps remaining.
Elliott earned a $100,000 prize for the fastest pit stop as part of the All-Star Race purse.
The All-Star Race did not count toward NASCAR's Cup Series standings. Denny Hamlin still leads the Cup Series, followed by Larson, Elliott, Byron and Logano in the Top 5 of the standings.
The Cup Series schedule will continue with the 2021 Ally 400 at 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday in Nashville.
