LONG POND, Pa. — Kyle Larson needed rain in Pocono to snap a victory drought.

Larson had the lead when the Xfinity Series race was red-flagged Saturday and won at Pocono Raceway for his first NASCAR victory of the season.

“I’m happy with it,” Larson said. “Now that the race is over and we’ve got the win, it can clear out (Sunday) so we can race in the Cup race.”

Both Sprint Cup practice sessions were wiped out Friday, and rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast Sunday around the time of the scheduled Cup race.

But the rain Saturday came at an opportune time for Larson.

“These rain races, a lot of it is luck,” he said. “I haven’t had a lot of luck this year, or my NASCAR career. Hopefully the luck has turned and maybe we can start winning some Cup races as well.”

Driving for owner Chip Ganassi, Larson led when the rain hit 53 laps into the scheduled 100-lap race and the race was called 1 hour, 35 minutes after the red flag came out.

“I didn’t really think I’d win today but it all worked out,” he said.

INDYCAR: Sebastien Bourdais raced to his first victory of the season, beating Conor Daly by two seconds at Detroit.

Bourdais had not led a single lap in any of the season’s first six races, and hadn’t finished higher than eighth. He led only 12 of the 70 laps on the 2.35-mile street course, but was able to hold on after Daly made a pit stop on lap 61 and gave up the lead.

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