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Sports

Larson returns to site of first Xfinity win

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Fontana, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Xfinity Series is set to run its fifth race of the season on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway.

One year ago, Kyle Larson became a first-time race winner in NASCAR's second- tier series after holding off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch in the closing laps at Auto Club Speedway. Larson's maiden Xfinity win came in his 38th start. He had finished second five times in the series before capturing his first victory.

Larson's hometown is Elk Grove, California, a suburb of Sacramento. This is his second full season competing in the Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing. He has yet to win a race in NASCAR's top racing circuit.

This year, Larson is running a limited Xfinity schedule for HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi. He is sharing driving duties with Brennan Poole in the No. 42 car. Poole has driven the car in the past two races, finishing ninth at Las Vegas and 26th at Phoenix.

"Auto Club (Speedway) has a lot of meaning to me because I won my first career Xfinity Series race there," Larson said. "It's also nice to return to my home state to race. Auto Club is a very fast, multiple-groove track. The more grooves there are, the better it is for us as drivers, and it puts on a great show for the fans.

"Qualifying (on Saturday) will be important because the race usually has long green-flag runs. Brennan did a great job the last few weeks, and I am very excited to be back behind the wheel of the ENEOS (team sponsor) Chevy."

Larson finished sixth in the 2013 Xfinity race at ACS. He was a rookie in the series at the time. Larson is one of six Sprint Cup regulars scheduled to compete in Saturday's Xfinity event here. Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr. and Brad Keselowski are the others.

Ty Dillon enters this race with a 14-point lead over Chris Buescher and a 22- point advantage over Ryan Reed. Chase Elliott, the defending Xfinity champion, trails by 25.

Forty teams are on the entry list for the Drive4Clots.com 300.

Series: NASCAR Xfinity. Date: Saturday, March 21. Race: Drive4Clots.com 300. Site: Auto Club Speedway. Track: 2-mile oval. Start time: 4 p.m. ET. Laps: 150. Miles: 300. 2014 Winner: Kyle Larson. Television: FOX Sports 1. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.