[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] looked to have a race-winning car at Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon; however, a poor decision by crew chief Cliff Daniels to stay out on the race track really hurt the No. 5 car’s track position for the rest of the day. Larson was able to climb back for a fourth-place finish but it didn’t come without a little bit of drama.
As Larson left his pit stall on the final pit stops, Brad Keselowski pulled out and was going to make contact with him. The driver of the No. 5 car had to move right and made contact with teammate [autotag]Chase Elliott[/autotag]. Then, Elliott showed his displeasure and slammed Larson’s right door under caution. After the race, Larson talked about his incident with Elliott at Kansas.
“We were just, from my vantage point, I knew we were three wide leaving and I knew, well, I didn’t know but at the time but the No. 6 is pitted in front of us and I’m trying to leave as much space as I can,” Larson said. “He’s out coming into the lane quickly because the No. 6 wants to slow us down. I tried to leave as much space as I could. Obviously, I made contact with him but I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to clobber the No. 6, right in the right front.”
They're teammates. 😬
Chase Elliott wasn't happy with Kyle Larson. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/71G4fYHT72
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 10, 2023
“I thought the safest bet for all of us was for me to squeeze out a little bit. So, I understand why he’s mad or was mad at the moment. I hope when he sees the replay, he understands I didn’t have any space or not much, just inches. I’m glad that neither of us got torn up there and we could get a good finish.”
This isn’t the first time the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers have run into each other before. Last year at Auto Club Speedway, Larson went up the track and made contact with Elliott near the end of the event. Hopefully, Larson and Elliott deemed the incident a misunderstanding and there are no hard feelings moving forward.
[lawrence-related id=1475]