Kyle Larson talks with FOX NASCAR’s Jamie Little after placing third in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
HAMPTON, Ga. — A week after a lackluster performance in the 67th DAYTONA 500, Kyle Larson raced with gusto in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Less than a week after some constructive comments from Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, following Daytona, Larson worked his way through the field as his No. 5 team worked ardently on his Chevrolet.
Despite finishing 17th in Stage 1, the same position he started the race, crew chief Cliff Daniels and the team improved Larson’s tight handling car. Working his way inside the top five by Lap 125, it was evident he had a genuine contender.
Restarting fourth with four laps remaining in Stage 2, Larson weaved his way toward the lead and kept it to win this leg of the race. It was Larson’s first stage victory in a superspeedway-style event and more importantly, he earned a Playoff point and the 10 stage points.
Unlike past races at Atlanta, the bottom did not fall out for Larson. Even after dropping to 18th on Lap 183, mostly because of different pit strategies, Larson drove up the leaderboard in the closing laps.
Within the race’s original closing moments, Larson battled Austin Cindric for the lead. As both drivers refused to yield, Larson took the lead but Cindric brushed the backstretch wall before crashing into the backstretch’s inside retaining SAFER barrier with William Byron.
This set up a NASCAR Overtime restart, a difficult but not unattainable situation for Larson’s bid for his 30th NASCAR Cup Series win. As Larson retook the lead going into the race’s final lap, Christopher Bell drove to his outside and got a hardy bump draft from a rival Chevrolet racer in Carson Hocevar.
Kyle Larson (No. 5) was on the inside of Christopher Bell and Carson Hocevar after the final caution in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta. (Photo: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
The trio drove into Turn 3 in a three-wide formation before a crash involving Josh Berry, Justin Haley and Ryan Preece in the backstretch ended the race. Bell was ahead of Hocevar and Larson when the caution lights were on, curtailing a potential photo finish at the stripe.
Although it was not a win, Larson took comfort in knowing he survived a wild race at Atlanta and snapped a four-race Did Not Finish (DNF) streak.
“It feels great. It’d feel better had we won, but really, to finish a race here and make it to the third stage feels good,” Larson said to NASCAR on NBC’s Dustin Long. “It was very entertaining from my seat tonight. I had a good time and we were in contention again like we typically are. We just got to the finish there.”
Some will critique the battle between Larson and Cindric that led to the NASCAR Overtime restart. Regardless, Larson took ownership for the incident while considering the highs of his best race at Atlanta since the reconfiguration in 2022 and his runner-up in the 2021 spring race.
“I think if I didn’t let the No. 20 get to my outside, I would have had an opportunity, but he would probably split to my inside into (Turn) 1 and clear me. If I don’t hesitate, the wreck probably doesn’t happen,” Larson offered. “So yeah, I don’t know.. I haven’t seen a replay yet.
“But yeah, bummer not to get a win. I’m proud of the effort today by this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. We had a lot of fun. It was super intense. It was my first legit finish here at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the reconfiguration, so I’ll take it.”
Kyle Larson captured his strongest superspeedway-style race result with a third at Atlanta. (Photo: Hayden Hutchison | The Podium Finish)
A podium finish, a Playoff point, and a tremendous jump in the points standings from 27th to sixth for Larson were moral victories. By far, Sunday’s race had to feel like a win for Larson versus having his car hooked to a wrecker well before a race’s finish at Atlanta.
Likewise, Larson gained some valuable input to bring to his shop to improve ahead of the series’ next superspeedway race at Talladega in April.
“I feel like we learned a lot and I feel like we can be a lot better with the balance of our racecar to be a little bit more on offense while we are in traffic,” Larson observed. “We just came up a little bit short.
“Thank you to HendrickCars.com, Chevrolet and all the Chevy partner teams, too. It’s been a good night, just wish we could have been a couple spots better.”
