FIRST WIN WELL WORTH WAIT

Kyle Larson celebrates atop his car Sunday after winning the Pure Michigan 400. “I’ll remember it forever,” the driver said.

BROOKLYN, MICH. After nearly three seasons, Kyle Larson finally is a winner in NASCAR’s premier series. The only surprise is that it took him so long.

When he realized he was going to win Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway, he felt calm. He had zoomed around Chase Elliott on a restart with nine laps to go and, looking in his mirror, saw no one was catching him.

After 99 Sprint Cup Series starts, he was going to earn his first win and lock himself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But with two laps remaining, Larson started shaking. His legs went numb. Tears welled in his eyes.

“I started to get choked up, because we’ve worked really, really hard to get a win and just haven’t done it,” Larson said later. “Finally, all the hard work by everybody — hundreds of people at our race shop, people who have gotten me to the Cup Series — was all paying off.”

It was time to celebrate. Larson jumped onto the roof of his car as the fans cheered, and then he climbed back in and flung the No. 42 into victory lane, sliding in with the engine roaring and tires squealing. He took off the steering wheel amid the smoke of his burnouts and held it out the window.

When he emerged again to flying beverages and a hurricane of confetti, Larson realized he couldn’t catch his breath. After all, he’d spent the last few minutes screaming in joy.

“I was so pumped up,” he said. “It was pretty special, and I’ll remember it forever.”

He already had had an emotional few weeks, losing one of his close racing friends when Bryan

Clauson died Aug. 7. He wore a special paint scheme on his helmet in Clauson’s honor at Bristol Motor Speedway last week and dedicated Sunday’s win to him.

“This one’s for the Clauson family,” he said. “We’re really missing Bryan. We love you guys. We parked it for him, so that was really cool.”

A 24-year-old whose time in NASCAR has been accompanied by hype and high expectations, Larson has dealt with more close calls, what-ifs and heartbreaks than he cared to remember. Ask anyone in NASCAR, and they’ll tell you he should have won several times by now.

But, as he noted Sunday, “Now I won, so we don’t have to talk about that anymore.”

Larson’s lack of a victory, though, had been a big talking point, as it had kept him from making NASCAR’s coveted Chase. And because he was headed toward being on the outside of the playoff for the third year, there were increasing whispers from doubters who wondered if perhaps Larson wasn’t as good as everyone initially thought.

Larson’s peers, though, understood he would break through sooner than later.

“About time,” Kevin Harvick said with a smirk.

“Well-deserved and a long time coming,” Jimmie Johnson said.

“Kyle’s been knocking on the door, so it’s good to see,” Brad Keselowski said.

Larson isn’t suddenly the favorite to win the Chase, but he could be a factor. And if he somehow makes it to the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his favorite track, then watch out.

But that’s jumping ahead. Regardless of what happens in the playoff, Larson’s win is important not only for him and his team but also for NASCAR. The sport has been aching for another young star to come along and show he can win; it also has been hoping to see more diversity in its ranks.

Larson checks both boxes. He is the first graduate of the NASCAR Next program (which promotes future stars) and the Drive for Diversity initiative (Larson’s mother is of Japanese descent).

Fans generally like Larson — those at Michigan cheered loudly during his celebration — which can’t be said for his 32-and-younger contemporaries such as Joey Logano, Keselowski and Kyle Busch. Of course, those drivers have won over and over again, which is the best way to become unpopular in the eyes of fickle fans.

NASCAR’s blue-collar supporters enjoy rooting for the underdog, and that describes Larson and his Chip Ganassi Racing team when compared to mega-organizations such as Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports. Ganassi hadn’t scored a victory with its two-car team since Jamie McMurray won in October 2013.

Now, with McMurray on the Chase bubble as the last car in on points, Ganassi is on the verge of putting two cars in the playoff for the first time.

The improvement has come incrementally, not by leaps and bounds.

“It’s easy to change: ‘Let’s get somebody new, and we’ll change,’ ” team owner Chip Ganassi said. “I think it’s a lot harder to have the fortitude as a team to say, ‘Hey, we have all the pieces; we have all the stuff. We’re going to hang in there and keep massaging what we have and work with that.’ ”

Though Ganassi is loath to discuss contracts, he indicated Larson would remain with the team well past this season. He is the foundation of an organization on the rise.

This was their first win together. It won’t be their last.