Kyle Larson won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway to become the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity to win at the sanctioning body’s top level.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver won the race driving the #42 Chevrolet by leading a race-high 41 laps in his 99th career start. With the win, Larson clinches a spot in NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Larson, a 24-year-old Elk Grove, California, native of Japanese-American heritage, has previously won in the Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His first win came in 2013 at Rockingham Speedway in the Camping World Truck Series.
He has since won another Camping World Truck race, as well as four Xfinity Series races.
Statement by Nascar on Betty Jane France Passes Away
Betty Jane France passed away Monday evening. A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the former Betty Jane Zachary was the widow of the late NASCAR Chairman and CEO William C. France, who passed away in 2007. Betty Jane France was executive vice president and assistant treasurer of NASCAR and the chairwoman emeritus of the NASCAR Foundation. France is the mother of NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and International Speedway Corporation CEO Lesa France Kennedy.
“Last night, the NASCAR family lost a mother, a grandmother, a friend and the light that guided the sport’s charitable arm,” said Brian France. “My mother taught us incredible values, that of love, patience, compassion and joy. She embraced life every day, and nothing fueled her passion more than children. Her unmatched efforts in building The NASCAR Foundation improved the lives of millions of children throughout this country. And because of that, her legacy will live forever.