[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] was so close to his second career NASCAR Cup Series championship but the No. 5 car didn’t have enough speed to make it happen. Larson came off pit road during the last pit stops with the championship lead; however, he was unable to hold off Ryan Blaney as his No. 12 car was the best of the bunch all day.
It was disappointing for Larson to finish second in the championship but it is a learning experience that will be applied moving forward. Following the race, Larson talked about coming up just short and praising Blaney for his efforts over the course of the day and playoffs.
“Yeah, [Ryan Blaney]’s car was really fast,” Larson said. “Really the last few months. Yeah, especially here today. Our pit crew and pit road really kept us in the game. We weren’t the greatest on the track, but I was just hoping for pit stops ’cause I knew the way our team executed our lights, the way our pit crew can execute a fast pit stop, I knew that was going to be our only shot really to win.”
First driver to make the Championship 4 in 2023: KYLE LARSON. Repost to congratulate the No. 5 team! pic.twitter.com/24kYq2fdVX
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) October 15, 2023
“They did everything in their power to give us the winning job done there. Huge thank you to them…I’m extremely proud of them. We had an up-and-down year and we finally put together two solid weeks in a row. I don’t know if we’ve done that all year.”
Larson failed to win the championship but it was still a successful year. The driver of the No. 5 car won four races over the course of the 2023 NASCAR season and would have been a worthy champion. Instead, Larson will use this as motivation and push forward to make 2024 his year.
[lawrence-related id=3772]