Team Chevy driver Kyle Larson scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win at historic Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, with a strategy call from his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team helping to put him in Victory Lane.

Larson started 19th in the NOCO 400 and finished inside the top-10 in the race's first two stages, looking poised to turn in a solid top-10 result. However, pit strategy played a major role in the race throughout the day, and his crew changed two tires on his Camaro ZL1 during the race's final caution period with just over 50 laps to go. 

That call by the Cliff Daniels-led team allowed Larson to restart in the fifth spot while also giving him an advantage over the four cars who elected to stay out on track.

Larson made the pass for the lead with 30 laps remaining at the paperclip-shaped, half-mile oval in southern Virginia and went on to score the victory by 4.142 seconds. 

It was Chevrolet's sixth victory in nine points-paying Cup Series races this season.

The win was also Larson's second of the year, his second in the last three races, and the 21st of his career.

"Just a huge congratulations to this whole No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team and Hendrick Motorsports," said Larson, who led just the race's final 30 laps and joined Hendrick teammate William Byron as the only two-time winners thus far in 2023. "I feel like Cliff (Daniels, crew chief) and everybody did a great job all day on pit road - making the right calls, having great pit stops, and then it all kind of worked out for me there at the end. We had a great car. That was the best my car had been I think, being able to get out front and manage.

"But, yeah, I never would have thought that I would win here at Martinsville. This place has been so tough on me. Just does not suit my driving style at all. I like to charge the center. I like to roll momentum, and that's just not what this place is like. Thanks to Cliff Daniels and everybody for making me feel like I know what I'm doing sometimes around here. I just can't believe it."

With the win, Larson claimed the track's famed grandfather clock trophy and capped off a week in which the 2021 Cup champion was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers.

Larson's victory also represented the 28th for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville (the team recorded its first win at the track in 1984) and its 295th Cup Series win overall. Both are series records.

In addition, the win was Chevrolet's Cup Series-leading 60th triumph at the track and extended the Bowtie Brand's record to 839 all-time wins in NASCAR's premier series.

At this spring's Martinsville race, Chevrolet took three spots in the top-10, with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. coming home eighth and Chase Elliott finishing 10th in his first race back after missing six events with a leg injury.

This weekend, the time was right for Larson to finally score his first Martinsville clock and extend both Chevrolet's and Hendrick Motorsports' dominance at the famous old racetrack.

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