Kyle Larson extends Chase points lead with first NASCAR win at Talladega after last-lap scramble

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Kyle Larson threw his left hand off the wheel in disgust with a half-lap remaining at Talladega Superspeedway, watching helplessly as his No. 5 Chevrolet plummeted from the lead.

“I screwed up,” he said. “I felt like, ‘Man, another one I just gave away.’ And I probably never am going to have an opportunity to win a speedway race that easily with so many allies around me. And so I was just mad.”

About 30 seconds later, he was jubilant after picking the perfect time to make some perfect moves for his first victory at the 2.66-mile oval that has been among his worst in the NASCAR Cup Series.

“All of a sudden, everything just opened up,” he said. “An unbelievable way to get my first speedway win. It all just worked out.”

Desperate for a rebound after his worst finish of the Chase, the defending series champion expanded his points lead by a wide margin with a breathtaking rally from 11th to first through the last two corners of the final lap.

Larson took the white flag in the lead but lost 10 spots in the first two turns after being unable to handle several bumps by the No. 33 Chevy Austin Hill, who was trying to push him to the win.

“Just crazy to get the win after falling back as far as we did,” said Larson, who benefited from a drafting push by the No. 1 Chevy of Ross Chastain (who took fourth). "I went left, and everybody was just staying high.”

In a three-wide finish, Larson took the checkered flag by a few feet over Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who spent much of the race pushing Larson to the front. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 0.066 seconds behind in third place.

“It’s good that Kyle won,” Byron said. “We worked really well together all day. If I couldn’t win, I wanted him to win.”

Larson credited the drafting help from Byron and several other Chevy drivers who kept him near the front.

“I felt like the rest of the Chevys were going to go wherever I went,” Larson said. “I could kind of carve the way, and they would follow, and that just gives you a lot of confidence.”

His faith in a title repeat was also restored.

With his third victory in the past seven races, Larson moved 73 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in the Chase standings with two races remaining.

There are 76 maximum points available for a race win, so it’s possible that Larson could clinch his third championship with a win Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway. After leading by only five points entering the race, Larson gleefully blurted out a vulgarity when he saw the postrace standings that had Hamlin virtually conceding defeat.

“They’ve done a lot of things right, and a lot of things have really gone right, and we’ve not done that,” Hamlin said. “And so we’ve got a big old gap, and I think as long as (Larson) can keep his four tires on it the next two weeks, then he’ll be a champion again."

Larson drove like a champion Sunday as he rarely has at the Cup circuit’s three drafting tracks where drivers run inches apart at 200 mph.

Prior to his 35th career victory, Larson had a series-worst average finish of 30.6 at Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta, and hadn’t won on any of the tracks in 58 prior starts (the longest superspeedway drought among active drivers).

But he led 21 laps and engineered two impressive comebacks, the first starting with 15 laps remaining after he dropped from the lead to 21st in four laps.

He had made his way back to second with six laps remaining when a 15-car crash erupted. The race went into overtime after a 13-minute cleanup for a pileup that included Chase driver Joey Logano’s Ford landing on its roof.

While Larson made nearly all the right moves in the finicky draft where a split-second mistake can a large pileup, other title contenders made some costly errors over the course of 500 miles.

A 12-car crash on the 132nd lap collected five Chase drivers, effectively ending the championship hopes for Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick.

“Just a bumper car-type thing,” said Blaney, who lost control of his No. 12 Ford on a bump from Bubba Wallace after swinging into the top lane. “Ended up crashing and took a lot of others. Maybe it wasn’t the best move by me. I have to think about it more.

“This one hurts. We needed to have a good day.”

Christopher Bell, who entered just five points behind Larson, crashed after spinning while entering the pits under green for his first pit stop on Lap 56. He finished 35th and dropped to third in the standings. 74 points behind Larson.

The Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing trio of Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Brad Keselowski swept the top three spots in the first stage with a unique strategy that had the rest of the field nearly a lap down at one point.

With many drivers conserving fuel to shorten their first green-flag pit stop, Buescher, Preece and Keselowski broke from the pack with laps that were 10 seconds faster. They had a lead of more than 40 seconds and easily stayed more than half a lap ahead of the field through the end of the stage on the 98th lap.

“A great game of poker where we just called the field,” Keselowski radioed his team. “I love it.”

The NASCAR Cup Series will head to its final short track of the season with Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, Nov. 1. Chase Elliott outdueled Denny Hamlin for the victory earlier this season.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Kyle Larson, bottom right, celebrates with children Owen, Audrey, and Cooper as they ride to Victory Lane after his win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Kyle Larson, center right, celebrates with his children Owen, Audrey, and Cooper after his win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Kyle Larson (5) passes Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (47) for the win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Kyle Larson, top right, celebrates with his chldren Owen, Audrey, and Cooper after his win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Kyle Larson, top right, celebrates with his children Owen, Audrey, and Cooper after his win in a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Crew members for Christopher Bell (20) work on his car during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Ryan Preece (60), Brad Keselowski (6), and Chris Buescher (17) break away from the pack in the first stage of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Chase Briscoe (19) leads the pack to the start of a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a vocal critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, was reelected Sunday in a result that keeps some distance between Latin America’s biggest economy and Washington.

With 100% of the vote counted, Brazil’s electoral court announced that the soon to be 81-year-old Lula held an unassailable lead. The announcement capped an evening of chaos at polling places across Brazil, following a last-minute decision to extend voting by two hours. That decision by a Supreme Court justice may trigger legal action by opponent Flávio Bolsonaro.

His triumph bucks a trend in Latin America where increasing numbers of right-of-center presidental candidates allied with Trump have been winning, further extending the United States’ influence in the region. Lula’s victory leaves Mexico and Brazil, Latin America’s two most populous nations, with left-of-center leaders. It also positions Latin America’s largest economy, with a GDP of $2.6 trillion per year, to remain independent of the U.S., despite the pressure of increased tariffs imposed by Trump.

The announcement kicked off a celebration of supporters in and out the Sao Paulo hotel where Lula watched the count with First Lady Rosângela da Silva, allies, and friends.

Lula’s victory, if confirmed by electoral authorities, will give him his non-consecutive fourth term as president. The next term begins on Jan. 5, 2027.

It is the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-highest vote getter in the first-round elections won the presidency. Bolsonaro had 47% of the vote in the first round to Lula’s 45%, a difference of 2.2 million votes.

Lula and Sen. Bolsonaro have yet to address their supporters.

Sunday’s victory will likely be the last of the veteran leader’s political career. Lula began his political career in the 1970s as a union leader. He then helped found the Workers’ Party, which he represented as a presidential candidate three times until he finally won it in 2002. He was reelected four years later and was succeeded by one of his cabinet ministers, Dilma Rousseff, in 2010. She was reelected in 2014.

Rousseff was impeached for accounting maneuvering in 2016 amid a sprawling corruption probe, which also ensnared Lula. He tried to run for president again in 2018 but was jailed in March after being convicted.

Lula was released from prison after 580 days and saw Brazil’s Supreme Court annul his sentence after police found messages that showed the judge who convicted him was biased. He quickly became one of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s biggest critics and narrowly beat him in 2022.

Lula admitted in 2024, two years into the job, that his administration had done little that far to earn the support of his voters.

Since he lost the first round, Lula reorganized his campaign, appealed to young voters, put millions of Brazilians on the streets to defend democratic values and his legacy, raised fears of another Bolsonaro administration and boosted several government initiatives.

Lula also defended Brazil’s sovereignty and insisted that a Bolsonaro presidency would allow the U.S. to exert control over Brazil.

He joins Trump and Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega — all age 80 — as the oldest presidents in the Americas.

Savarese reported from Sao Paulo. Brigida reported from Brasilia.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro flashes a victory sign as he arrives in Brasilia, Brazil, on the day of the presidential runoff election, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, waves after voting in the presidential runoff in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro and his wife Fernanda Bolsonaro give a thumbs during the runoff presidential election in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izuierdo)

People walk along the beach during the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lucas Landau)

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, waves after voting in the presidential runoff in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, wears glasses given to him by a supporter after voting in the presidential runoff in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Voters line up at a polling station during the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, displays a Brazilian flag before voting in a presidential runoff in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

Voters line up at a polling station during the presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Voters line outside a polling station up during the presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

A supporter of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is seeking reelection, lines up at a polling station during a presidential runoff in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro and his wife Fernanda Bolsonaro give a thumbs during the runoff presidential election in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Voters wait to cast their ballots during a presidential runoff in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lucas Landau)

Red T-shirts depicting Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, and yellow T-shirts depicting opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro hang for sale outside a building ahead of Brazil's presidential runoff election in Autazes, Amazonas state, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, who is running for reelection, and his running mate Geraldo Alckmin raise their arms in unison at the end of their final campaign rally, a day ahead of the presidential runoff election in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, center, leaves after his final campaign rally a day ahead of the presidential runoff election in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)

Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro cheer during his final campaign rally a day ahead of the presidential runoff election in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Lucas Landau)

A girl standing on a man's shoulders reaches out amid a crowd of supporters of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is running for reelection, during his final campaign rally, a day ahead of the presidential runoff election in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)