Tag: Kyle Larson

‘Welcome to life on the No. 5 team’ Daniels says of being battle-hardened by Cup playoffs

Cliff Daniels pulled out a familiar phrase this week ahead of the final race in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and then grinned when called on it. Daniels, the crew chief on the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Kyle Larson, …

Cliff Daniels pulled out a familiar phrase this week ahead of the final race in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs and then grinned when called on it.

Daniels, the crew chief on the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for Kyle Larson, was participating in a media availability when expressing that his team has been battle-tested in the postseason. It’s the exact phrase and feeling Daniels used one year ago in the same media availability.

“Welcome to life on the No. 5 team,” Daniels replied when told of the déjà vu. “Anybody who watches the highlight reel of the No. 5 team since we’ve been this incarnation of the team, that’s just kind of who we are.”

There is no exaggeration or dramatics when it comes to Daniels. One of the most straightforward and controlled crew chiefs in the Cup Series garage, he can dig into the minute details about his race team and how they stack up in the bigger picture.

Regarding this year’s postseason run, Larson and Daniels have indeed been battled tested and will be again Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The group is in a seven-point deficit to begin the elimination race after finishing 11th in Las Vegas, suffering damage early in the race and a later pit road miscue, and then a 13th place finish at Homestead-Miami after a tire puncture and separate solo spin.

But the tale of the tape goes back deeper.

Larson crashed in the first race of the playoffs at Atlanta but won the last race of the first round in dominating fashion at Bristol. Then came a tire issue in Kansas and another strong victory when closing out the second round at the Charlotte Roval.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

“It’s kind of been what our identity has become,” Daniels said about riding the highs and lows. “Eventually you get enough seat time experiencing those things that I can think of races two, three, four years ago that I rode the highs and the lows too much as the leader of the team and on down the line of all of our teammates and everybody as part of the team, probably Kyle included. Now we know that, hey, there’s going to be races that we’re just flat out going to wreck or have something crazy happen from the lead or when we’re in contention. Don’t get too low in those moments.”

“Then you have races like Bristol and the Roval where afterward everybody talks about how dominating the day was. For us, we don’t walk away beating our chest saying, ‘Wow, we just dominated that race.’ OK, we did our job that day, and now we know going into the next week, it could all flip-flop on its head again.”

The journey, as Daniel also described it, provides maturing and growth opportunities for the team. He can also appreciate those moments more than ever before because he believes it’s made the group tougher and more resilient.

“Who knows what the outcome of all of this will be, but I think our commitment to our process and each other outweighs anything [else],” Daniels said. “That’s what our priority is — being true to ourselves and the process and the outcome is what it is.”

Larson praised his team this weekend for the perseverance they’ve shown to be in the hunt to advance. The 2021 series champion doesn’t believe there is a team that is still left in the round that’s gone through more.

The No. 5 team’s recent track record speaks for itself, too — they won at Martinsville Speedway in the spring of 2023 and finished second at the track earlier this year.

Kyle Larson discusses playoff-altering NASCAR race at Homestead in 2024

Kyle Larson discusses his playoff-altering NASCAR race at Homestead. Find out what Larson said after leaving Homestead below the cut-line!

[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] was in position to take the lead from Ryan Blaney in the closing laps of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but it went south like it did in Stage 1. Larson spun as he shot it between Blaney and Austin Dillon, causing a caution. The driver of the No. 5 car finished in 13th place with a seven-point deficit to the playoff cut-line.

Following the event, Larson spoke about the incident with Blaney and Dillon in Turn 3 and applauded the No. 5 team on how it responded after a flat tire in Stage 1 caused damage to the race car.

“You’re making split-second decisions,” Larson said. [Austin Dillon] did nothing wrong. I was just hoping that he would see me coming as [Ryan Blaney] got to his inside, and maybe he’d run a lane off the wall just to give me some clean air. He continued to run his line. I had a little bit of a hole and I was trying to shoot the gap to get in front of the No. 3 and get to the wall quickly to either hopefully stay on the outside of the No. 12 or build a run to have a shot at him in [Turns] 1 and 2.”

“But yeah, it just didn’t work out. I was going as hard as I could. The No. 5 Chevy team did a great job rebounding after the flat tire…Yeah, we’ve been strong at [Martinsville Speedway] at times, so we’ll see. It’s not my best track, but I’ve been a lot better there since I joined Hendrick Motorsports. We just need to qualify well and give it our best shot.”

Larson now goes into Martinsville needing to make up at least seven points. If there is a new winner below the playoff cut-line, Larson would be 29 points back of Christopher Bell for the final spot. It will be a stressful time for the No. 5 team this weekend, but a win would be the sure-fire way of competing for another Cup Series championship in under two weeks.

[lawrence-related id=18973,18970,18932]

Hendrick Playoff drivers confident of advancing to title race

The three Hendrick Motorsports teammates who are still fighting for a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series championship race have all expressed confidence about their chances to advance with one race left in the Round of 8. But all three drivers face …

The three Hendrick Motorsports teammates who are still fighting for a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series championship race have all expressed confidence about their chances to advance with one race left in the Round of 8.

But all three drivers face different challenges going into the elimination race. William Byron is the only Hendrick driver sitting in a transfer spot, but he’s on the bubble with a slim seven-point advantage.

“Absolutely,” Byron said of getting the job done at Martinsville Speedway (Sunday, 2 p.m. ET). “We did it in the spring, so we should be able to.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

Byron’s spring triumph at Martinsville Speedway was his third win in the first eight races of the season. He hasn’t won since.

On Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Byron finished sixth. It was his fifth consecutive top 10 finish, however, a victory by Tyler Reddick shrunk Byron’s advantage on the cutline by 20 points.

“We kind of had what we had (Sunday),” Byron said. “We weren’t good enough, and we were just trying to get all we could. I feel like a sixth-place finish is good. If it had gone green there, we were going to end up top-five. I don’t know how that changes the points, but we just have to go to Martinsville Speedway and compete for a win.”

Byron sits one spot ahead of Kyle Larson, who is seven points out of a transfer spot. For the second straight week, Larson and his team had to fight from behind after an early race issue.

At Homestead, it was a puncture that caused Larson to hit the wall in the first stage. He then spun in the final stage, with 13 laps to go, while battling Ryan Blaney for the race lead. Larson tried to squeeze between Blaney and Austin Dillon in Turn 3.

“You’re making split-second decisions,” Larson said after finishing 13th. “Austin did nothing wrong. I was just hoping that he would see me coming as (Blaney) got to his inside, and maybe he’d run a lane off the wall just to give me some clean air. He continued to run his line.

“I had a little bit of a hole and I was trying to shoot the gap to get in front of the No. 3 and get to the wall quickly to either hopefully stay on the outside of the No. 12 or build a run to have a shot at him in (Turns) 1 and 2. But yeah, it just didn’t work out.

“I was going as hard as I could. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team did a great job rebounding after the flat tire.”

Larson was the biggest points loser Sunday. He went from 35 points above the cutline to seven below.

“We’ve been strong at Martinsville at times, so we’ll see,” Larson said. “It’s not my best track, but I’ve been a lot better there since I joined Hendrick Motorsports. We just need to qualify well and give it our best shot.”

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott shaved some points off his deficit towards a transfer spot but is still in a must win situation. Elliott finished fifth at Homestead after an early DNF in the opening race of the round at Las Vegas when collected in a multi-car crash. Elliott is last on the playoff grid in a 43-point hole.

“I just got tighter and tighter as the day went on,” Elliott said of Sunday’s race. “I was just trying to manage that on the front side of a run, and ultimately, I just didn’t do a great job of managing it. When the pace got quicker and everyone started pushing, I didn’t really have anything left to push.

“It was a really solid couple of weeks for the No. 9 NAPA Chevy team, from a pace perspective. That’s encouraging as you move along in the playoffs.”

Elliott, like his teammates, is a winner at Martinsville Speedway. Elliott won the fall race at Martinsville in 2020, which advanced him into the championship race which he went on to win and claim the Cup Series title.

“Very confident,” Elliott said of the upcoming weekend.

Hendrick Motorsports has won five of the last eight Martinsville Speedway races. Following Eliott’s win in 2020, Alex Bowman won in the fall of 2021, Byron in the spring of 2022, and Larson in the spring of 2023. Plus, the aforementioned Byron victory from earlier this season.

And in the spring race from April, Hendrick Motorsports went 1-2-3 in a race that celebrated its 40th anniversary, with Byron leading Larson and Elliott across the finish line.

Rough day denies Larson a three-peat in Vegas

The third time was not the charm for Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Larson, who was going for his third consecutive win at the speedway, finished 11th on Sunday afternoon. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team salvaged the afternoon after …

The third time was not the charm for Kyle Larson at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Larson, who was going for his third consecutive win at the speedway, finished 11th on Sunday afternoon. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team salvaged the afternoon after having a third rough race to start a round in the postseason.

“It’s good to get out of here with something better than we’ve had to start the first two rounds,” Larson said. “It hasn’t been easy for us in these first races, but we did a good job fighting back to get to an 11th-place finish. So, I’m happy about that and, for the most part, keeping our heads in the game.

“It could have been a lot worse.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1423]

Las Vegas was the best finish to the start a round that Larson has had. He crashed out of the first race in the Round of 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and was classified 37th. A flat tire at Kansas Speedway to start the Round of 12 derailed his day, and he finished 26th.

There were a few issues that hindered Larson in Las Vegas. He was one of the quickest cars to start the afternoon and finished 10th in the first stage. It ended up being the only stage point he earned.

Larson had to come back down pit road a second time before the start of the second stage for the crew to patch the lower part of the left front grille. Later in the stage, he fell a lap down when having to make a second [pit stop under green flag conditions.

During the initial stop, the rear tire changer had to return to the right side to ensure the wheel was tight. In doing so, the left rear tire was never changed, but Larson left pit road without knowing. He finished 30th in the second stage.

A caution with 74 laps to go for Ty Gibbs, who Larson had been battling for the free pass position, put Larson back on the lead lap. He admitted the day was “extremely hard” when asked about his afternoon.

“We just kind of had a bad end of the first stage, and then we had to fix the damage that I guess we had,” Larson recapped. “Then I was like, okay, we’re going to have a good day here.

“I think I got to, like, eighth, maybe before the green flag cycle, and I was like, okay, I’m much better than all these guys, and we’ll cycle in front of them and probably finish the stage somewhere in third or fourth, and then we have the biggest mess of a pit stop that I think I’ve ever seen and that was just unfortunate.

“Thankfully, I didn’t go two laps down. Then, I had to fight, got a break with the lucky dog there, and got the most of what we had there at the end.”

Through it all, Larson increased his gap on the cutline. It was by two points, however. Larson is 35 points above the cutline with two races left in the Round of 8.

‘It’s a privilege to be this far into the playoffs’ – Larson

Kyle Larson has been here before and that’s a good thing when it comes to being ready for the penultimate round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Sunday marks the fourth time Larson has made it to the Round of 8 in the postseason. A driver who …

Kyle Larson has been here before and that’s a good thing when it comes to being ready for the penultimate round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Sunday marks the fourth time Larson has made it to the Round of 8 in the postseason. A driver who survives and advances from this round will compete for a championship. A season’s worth of work to have a shot at the ultimate prize is on the line.

The stakes have never been higher, in other words. And that’s why someone like Larson, who has been through this before, can acknowledge that while the Round of 8 does feel different, it’s easier to handle.

“I think the first couple of years I ever made the Round of 8, yeah, you feel the pressure of it a little bit, or you put more pressure on yourself, or whatever the case may be,” Larson said Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. “After you make it to the final round a few different times, it kind of calms your nerves a little bit, at least for me. I think a lot of that comes down to just confidence that you have in the group of people around you. I feel the same as I did the other rounds leading into it — just excited to go racing, excited for the opportunity.”

Larson made the Round of 8 for the first time in 2019. It was the furthest he got.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

The next time he made a deep playoff run was in 2021. Not only was it a deep run, it went all the way to the championship race. In his first year at Hendrick Motorsports driving the No. 5 Chevrolet, Larson dominated the series for 10 wins and the championship. That was also the first time he made it to the Championship 4.

It was an early postseason exit in 2022. Last year, he was back at Phoenix Raceway with a shot at his second championship, but finished second in the hunt.

“It’s a privilege to be this far into the playoffs,” Larson said. “To see all the hard work of the regular season and the playoff races to this point of getting yourself to where you’re at in points. I’m ready to go and ready to have a good time, and hopefully we can execute at a high level and find ourselves with an opportunity at a championship in a few weeks.”

Larson entered the postseason as the sportsbook favorite to win the championship. He claimed the regular season championship and leads the series with six victories. Of the Round of 8 drivers, Larson and Joey Logano are the only ones who have won in the postseason. But in that category, Larson again stands the tallest as he’s won two of the six playoff races.

For good measure, he’s also the defending winner at Las Vegas.

Kyle Larson discusses sixth NASCAR win of 2024 at the Charlotte ROVAL

Kyle Larson discusses his sixth NASCAR win of the 2024 Cup Series season at the Charlotte ROVAL. Check out Larson’s reaction to the victory!

[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] entered the Charlotte ROVAL in a tremendous position to make the Round of 8, but he wanted more. Larson’s No. 5 team knew he was going to make the next round, barring disaster, so they went for the win on Sunday. It worked in their favor, as Larson won the Bank of America ROVAL 400, earning a crucial five playoff points in his sixth victory of tje 2024 season.

Following the event, Lrason got out of his No. 5 car and discussed his sixth win of the 2024 Cup Series season. The 2021 Cup Series champion has had a very strong playoff run, and he now looks forward to the Round of 8.

“Yeah, really it’s the first time in my playoff career I’ve not been close to the cut line, so it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend,” Larson said. “I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe besides the other time I won. Good weekend. Thanks to Hendrickscars.com, Hendrick Automotive Group. Obviously we’re here in Hendrick’s home and got so many people here from there. Going to be fun to celebrate with them.”

“Thanks to Cliff Daniels, Chevrolet, GM too. It’s known that I don’t really use the sim much, and I was in the sim this week. Huge thank you to you guys there. It really helped me get into a rhythm I think early on and helped us kind of fine-tune our car too. Hats off to everybody there, and JINYA Ramen Bar, Prime. It’s awesome having Audrey here. We have an 8:40 p.m. flight. I think we’re going to miss that probably, but we’ll catch Owen and Katelyn and Audrey in Cabo. We’re going to Cabo this week, and hopefully will make it there.”

Larson will enjoy his time in Cabo and hope it brings him some good luck heading into Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has a baffling 33-point advantage on the playoff bubble, so a mistake-free Round of 8 would put him in a great spot. Larson and the No. 5 team want another title, and they will be tough to beat if they make it to Phoenix Raceway.

[lawrence-related id=18289,18286,18274]

Larson dominates Cup elimination race at Roval; Reddick advances

Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 was as much about Tyler Reddick’s heroic drive into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as it was about Kyle Larson’s continued domination of elimination races. As Larson cruised to his second Playoff …

Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 was as much about Tyler Reddick’s heroic drive into the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as it was about Kyle Larson’s continued domination of elimination races.

As Larson cruised to his second Playoff victory this season—and his second in an elimination race—Reddick charged forward from 26th after a lap 84 restart and clawed his way to 11th—good enough to knock two-time series champion Joey Logano out of the Playoffs by eight points.

Logano’s exit was temporary, however. In post-race inspection, Alex Bowman’s Chevrolet failed NASCAR’s weight requirement and was disqualified, knocking the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet below the elimination line and restoring Logano to the Round of 8.

Mirroring his rout in the final Round of16 event at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson grabbed the lead for the restart of Stage 2 and stayed out front for 62 of the final 82 laps at the 2.28-mile, 17-turn Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

 

The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet crossed the finish line 1.511s ahead of Christopher Bell, the only driver who could stay in the same zip code with the race winner. Third-place William Byron was 8.965s behind at the finish.

With his sixth victory of the season, his second at the Roval and the 29th of his career, Larson led two other Hendrick teammates into the final eight—Byron, and fifth-place finisher Chase Elliott.

“Really, it’s the first time in my Playoff career I’ve not been close to the cut line, so it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend,” said Larson, whose previous win at the Roval came during his 2021 championship season. “I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe, besides the other time I won.

“It’s known that I don’t really use the sim (simulator) much, and I was in the sim this week. It really helped me get into a rhythm I think early on and helped us kind of fine-tune our car, too.”

Joining Bowman on the sidelines were Team Penske’s Austin Cindric (fourth on Sunday), Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez (31st) and Stewart-Haas Racin’gs Chase Briscoe (37th), leaving reigning series champion Ryan Blaney (10th) and Logano as the two Ford drivers left in the Playoff field.

If Larson’s dominating run stole the suspense from his victory, Reddick’s charge over the final 26-lap green-flag run provided nail-biting drama.

After pole winner Shane van Gisbergen (21 laps led) and Larson pitted from the top two spots in Stage 1, Reddick, the regular-season champion, stayed out in the lead to collect 10 stage points and an additional Playoff point on lap 25.

A pit stop during the stage break mired Reddick in traffic for a lap 30 restart, and then calamity struck. In the newly reconfigured Turn 7 hairpin, the new corner of chaos, Austin Dillon turned sideways in a melee that saw Reddick jump the curbing and smash into his 23XI Racing team owner Denny Hamlin.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

Reddick’s car was severely damaged, and only a succession of pit stops throughout the remainder of the race—including a lengthy sojourn under caution to repair the left-rear toe link—made it competitive for the final run.

“Yeah, I thought I was going to flip, but I think I was behind the No. 19 (Martin Truex Jr.)—trying to work the move to the inside,” Reddick said of the wreck. “I got clear of him—I saw the No. 3 (Dillon) spun and everyone on the binders coming to a stop, and of course, me and my boss (Hamlin) get together. It was like I was going to do a front flip. This thing was absolutely destroyed.

“Huge props to everyone on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry. This thing couldn’t go within 4s of what the pace was, and we just kept working on it. We were a lot better in Stage 3. This is how this place can be sometimes, but it is really nice to pull this off.”

It was crew chief Billy Scott’s call to bring Reddick to pit road for new tires under caution on lap 82 that proved decisive. The fresh Goodyears were the ammunition Reddick needed to pass 15 cars during the final run and eclipse Logano’s point total by four.

But the drama became moot with Bowman’s disqualification.

“You just have to stay calm,” Reddick said. “You just have to stay focused. In those moments, it is so easy to lose control. Either way, I was going to drive the car as fast as I could. It just worked out for us that this thing was able to get back through the field and get us to the good side of the cut line.”

By the time the second stage ended, Larson and Bell had clinched spots in the Round of 8. Hamlin, who ran 14th on Sunday, also advanced. Bowman was nine points above the elimination line at the finish before the crushing disqualification and would have been the fourth Hendrick driver in the final eight.

At the checkered flag on Sunday, AJ Allmendinger was sixth, followed by Van Gisbergen, Logano, Bubba Wallace, Blaney and Reddick.

RESULTS

Kyle Larson wins Round of 12 finale at Charlotte ROVAL, full results

Kyle Larson wins the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte ROVAL. Check out the full results and race recap from the Charlotte ROVAL!

The NASCAR Cup Series arrived at the Charlotte ROVAL to officially set the Round of 8, and it had some drama. Tyler Reddick won Stage 1 but sustained major damage in Stage 2 as Alex Bowman cruised to the stage victory. However, neither driver was able to claim the win as a Hendrick Motorsports driver cruised to victory lane.

[autotag]Kyle Larson[/autotag] won the 2024 Bank of America ROVAL 400, earning his sixth win of the year. Larson maintained a two-second lead over Christopher Bell for the last 20 laps, cruising to victory lane. Meanwhile, Reddick was able to claw out of danger and make his way into the Round of 8, setting the field for the next three races.

Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric, and Chase Briscoe were the four drivers eliminated in the Round of 12. Logano held the final playoff spot for most of the Final Stage but couldn’t hold on as Reddick climbed through the field. Back to the winner, Larson now holds a 33-point advantage over hte playoff cut-line and hopes to ride it to a Championship 4 appearance.

NASCAR results from the Charlotte ROVAL in October 2024:

  1. No. 5 Kyle Larson
  2. No. 20 Christopher Bell
  3. No. 24 William Byron
  4. No. 2 Austin Cindric
  5. No. 9 Chase Elliott
  6. No. 16 A.J. Allmendinger
  7. No. 13 Shane van Gisbergen
  8. No. 22 Joey Logano
  9. No. 23 Bubba Wallace
  10. No. 12 Ryan Blaney
  11. No. 45 Tyler Reddick
  12. No. 77 Carson Hocevar
  13. No. 8 Kyle Busch
  14. No. 11 Denny Hamlin
  15. No. 34 Michael McDowell
  16. No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  17. No. 17 Chris Buesher
  18. No. 48 Alex Bowman
  19. No. 38 Todd Gilliland
  20. No. 71 Zane Smith
  21. No. 21 Harrison Burton
  22. No. 19 Martin Truex Jr.
  23. No. 4 Josh Berry
  24. No. 6 Brad Keselowski
  25. No. 31 Daniel Hemric
  26. No. 41 Ryan Preece
  27. No. 7 Justin Haley
  28. No. 15 Kaz Grala
  29. No. 1 Ross Chastain
  30. No. 66 Josh Bilicki
  31. No. 99 Daniel Suarez
  32. No. 10 Noah Gragson
  33. No. 3 Austin Dillon
  34. No. 43 Erik Jones
  35. No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
  36. No. 54 Ty Gibbs
  37. No. 14 Chase Briscoe
  38. No. 51 Corey LaJoie

Larson says frustration prompted social media response to Bristol criticisms

Kyle Larson said a long post he wrote on X about the reaction to Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was borne from frustration. “It’s frustrating sometimes to see people in the industry, out of the industry, whatnot, have an opinion and …

Kyle Larson said a long post he wrote on X about the reaction to Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway was borne from frustration.

“It’s frustrating sometimes to see people in the industry, out of the industry, whatnot, have an opinion and want to blame… certain things, and none of us have any clue why a race or tire wears like it does or why cars handle bad in traffic,” Larson said. “It just gets annoying after a while.”

In the post, Larson wrote that NASCAR Cup Series races at Bristol have not produced many high tire wear races. The Hendrick Motorsports driver also noted that there is a good chance that drivers who lose track position from a speeding penalty will fall a lap down, and that passing at the half-mile track has always been tough.

At the end of the post, Larson said expectations should be tempered because the field is driving spec cars. The post was made a few days after the race, by which point the opinions about the car, the tires, short track racing, and what makes a good race had been flowing through social media and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from fans and the industry.

Larson won the Bass Pro Shops Night Race after sweeping the stages and leading 462 of 500 laps.

“I don’t ever get on social media anymore but I was just annoyed,” Larson told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “There are so many people in the industry that they see a car lead 462 laps and they automatically think it’s a terrible race. ‘Oh, there’s no tire wear. There’s no this. There’s no that.’ There’s never been tire wear at Bristol besides one race in the last 10 years. So, it’s like everybody forgets about the past.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1428]

There were eight lead changes Saturday night. The spring race at Bristol produced 54 lead changes and high tire wear for reasons still not fully understood. Larson believes the expectation was for Saturday night to be more of the same due to Goodyear bringing the same tire compound.

Larson, however, felt last weekend was more of a typical Bristol race, and not necessarily a bad one. According to the NASCAR loop data, there were 2,287 green flag passes in Saturday night’s race compared to the 3,589 in the spring.

“Everybody wants to blame Goodyear and everybody’s got the answers,” Larson continued. “Nobody has the answers. Goodyear doesn’t have the answer. NASCAR doesn’t have the answer about their car and why it doesn’t run good in traffic. Us — the drivers and the teams and engineers — we don’t have the answer either. So, I don’t know. It’s hard to have opinions, and hard when you don’t have the facts to back anything up.

“It’s just frustration. And it’s not like I’m defending our dominating run; I’m just in a way trying to defend our sport and defend Goodyear, because they get such a bad rap every week like they’re the problem of why our racing sucks. It’s not them.”

Kyle Larson sounds off on NASCAR fans’ reaction to unpopular Bristol race

After many fans criticized the quality of the Bristol night race, Kyle Larson shared his perspective on the event.

Kyle Larson closed out the first round of the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs with one of the most dominant victories in the history of Hendrick Motorsports, as he led 462 laps on Saturday night and was never seriously challenged for the win.

Short track races in the Next Gen car have been extremely hit-or-miss, but aside from Larson fans, many viewers were less than impressed with the Bristol night race – especially when compared to the wild spring race we saw at the same track.

Back in March, Goodyear tires wore out completely after around 50 laps, leading to plenty of green-flag pit stops and several tire-related cautions. To NASCAR’s surprise, tires weren’t a factor at all in the night race, with Elton Sawyer telling SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he was “baffled” by the outcome.

With tire wear out of the picture, track position was the most important factor in the race, and several drivers complained afterward that passing was near-impossible.

The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck conducted a post-race poll for several years, asking fans to vote on whether a race was good or not. Only 27.2 percent of fans who voted said that the 2024 Bristol night race was good, which ranks last in the 19 total Bristol races that Gluck has conducted a poll for, and second-to-last among all short track races in the same period.

Larson responded to the results on Twitter and wrote that if there had been a green-white-checkered finish, far more fans would have called it a good race.

On Tuesday, Larson shared a deeper reflection of the Bristol night race and wrote that fans shouldn’t be blaming Goodyear for the results of the race. According to Larson, what we saw on Saturday wasn’t all that different from the Bristol races of the past, and the real issue is the Next Gen car.

 

“From what I remember in my career before the Next Gen car was we had cars with some disparity that could run closer to one another in traffic and a wheel/tire combo that got hotter which in essences gave us less grip on the long run. I’ve ran with 900hp all the way down to 650hp or less potentially, high downforce, low downforce and everything in between.

Bristol’s ALWAYS been tough to pass. Speed on pit road and most likely there’s a good chance you’re going a lap down on the next run. That’s the way it is and has been for a very long time.

We had more natural cautions from wrecks because cars could run closer and we never quite made it a full fuel run because eventually someone’s RF tire would explode from overheating.

I’m not saying I want tires to explode again but we’re trying to crutch this race car on short tracks with the tire and then blame Goodyear every week cause cars can’t pass.

I don’t have the answer to fix what we currently have and neither do you but please stop blaming Goodyear. It’s not a tire problem.

And also, have any of you ran around Bristol with or without PJ1? Or resin for that matter. Yeah that’s right… so 🤐

Temper your expectations. We’re driving spec race cars.”