NASCAR Richmond 2017 results: Kyle Larson wins Federated Auto Parts 400, plus full finishing order

Kyle Larson used a fast pit stop and a great restart in overtime to win the Monster Energy Cup Series regular season finale Saturday night at Richmond Raceway.

Larson was running second to Martin Truex Jr. when Derrike Cope brushed the wall to bring out a caution with four laps remaining. On the ensuing pit stops, Larson beat Truex off pit road to grab the lead, which he maintained when the race resumed in overtime and was never challenged en route to scoring his fourth win of the season.

“(Truex) was definitely the best, but I thought I was second-best for most of the runs,” Larson said. “But, it came down to the last restart there and I got a good start. I spun my tires pretty bad and I was a little nervous, but we cleared him into (Turn) 1 and I was pretty excited about that.”

Joey Logano finished second, followed by Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott completed the top 10.

Logano, a preseason championship favorite, needed a victory Saturday night to transfer into the 16-driver playoffs. Elliott, Jamie McMurray (finished 14th) and Matt Kenseth (38th) grabbed the final three postseason spots available.

“Came up a little bit short overall,” Logano said. “Yeah, it stings a little bit.”

Truex, who led a race-high 198 laps, crashed on the final lap after contact with Hamlin. Upset with what he felt was an unnecessary caution when Cope hit the wall, Truex post-race criticized both NASCAR for displaying the yellow flag and Cope, who was multiple laps down, for being on the track with a slower car.

“I just think that it’s ridiculous that a guy could cause a caution with one lap to go as bad as he’s running and just riding around there basically just making laps,” Truex said. “Yeah, it’s pretty dumb.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was officially eliminated from the playoff in this final full season before retiring at the end of the year. NASCAR’s 14-time most popular driver entered Richmond requiring a victory to gain championship eligibility, but finished 13th.

Earnhardt appeared like he might make a bid for a surprising win, running solidly inside the top 10 for much of the night. But he lacked track-position and a last-ditch attempt to use pit strategy to his advantage didn’t materialize when the caution Earnhardt needed never occurred.

“That was the only way we were going to win the race,” Earnhardt said. “We had the speed, but we weren’t going to get around those five guys running in front of us, so we had to pull that strategy. If the caution comes out while we’re leading, then we got that track position we need.”

The 10-race playoffs begins Sept. 17 at Chicagoland Speedway. The format sees four drivers eliminated every three races, with a win guaranteeing advancement to the next round.