Kyle Larson’s quest for a fourth consecutive regular-season win fell short by less than a half of a lap.
Larson had a flat tire while leading on the final lap of Saturday’s race at Pocono and smashed into the wall in Turn 3. That gave the lead to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman who scored his third win of 2021 in stunning fashion.
Larson had pressured Bowman for over 10 laps before making a pass for the lead with four laps to go. Larson had the fastest car all day and was clearly faster than Bowman over the final run. But Bowman had clean air and was able to use his car and the large spoiler on the back of it to defend well against Larson before Larson finally got past.
After Larson passed Bowman, the end of the race felt like a formality. Larson was going for his fifth consecutive win overall when you count the NASCAR All-Star Race but the his left-front tire went flat after he exited Turn 2. It’s unclear what made Larson’s tire go flat and you could hear it explode on the in-car audio after he exited the corner.