Larson entered Sunday’s Round of 12 cutoff race with little margin for error if he was going to transfer to the semifinal round on points.
After wrecking out of Texas and a 15th-place finish at Talladega, the 2021 series champion was going to need a solid run to remain in the top eight.
His weekend got off to a bad start when he hit the wall in practice and had to move to a backup car, which sent him to the rear of the field to start Sunday’s race.
Advancing through the field proved slow-going, but Larson was able to avoid any serious issues and his 13th-place finish left him comfortably above the transfer line at the race’s end.
“It was a stressful weekend, but the No. 5 team and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports did a great job working hard on this backup car. I felt like our car was really good,” Larson said.
“We were just pretty conservative there at times. I just didn’t want to make a mistake like I did last year and take ourselves completely out of it.
“It was just stressful there the final stage, but we were able to get in, which was the goal.”
Source: Autosport