Kyle Larson enters Sunday’s South Point 400 with his sights on winning for the third time in a row at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Justin Sheldon | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS — Kyle Larson is like the student who has studied for an extremely difficult test and finishes it in 10 minutes. When it comes to racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he embraces the bumpy corners and high speed action especially since driving for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.
In the past three races, Larson has been the model of consistency with two victories and three podiums. Those winning ways started in last year’s race when he started second and swept the stages.
Ahead of Sunday’s South Point 400, the 32-year-old native of Elk Grove, California, pondered about his comfort level at the 1.5-mile intermediate track.
“I think winning helps the confidence,” Larson said. “But also coming to a track where we do have a lot of success at helps, probably more than anything. I’m just looking forward to this weekend. Hopefully, our car has good speed and a good balance, like it has the last couple of times here
“It would be nice to get another win, or at least start the round better than we started the other two rounds and gain points.”
So far, Larson is in a strong position to earn another victory at Las Vegas. Posting the ninth fastest effort and fifth quickest time in a 10-lap average run in Saturday’s practice session, he rolls off fifth in Sunday’s 267-lap race.
Coming off his sixth victory of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, Larson, the points leader, is known to be a risk taker. However, in the Playoffs, he tries to race with the big picture in mind rather than swinging for the fences.
Kyle Larson showcased some pace ahead of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Justin Sheldon | The Podium Finish)
“Not a whole lot… I don’t think so,” he considered. “I think it probably depends on your points situation and such, but I don’t know… I feel like whenever the Playoffs come around, you’re just a little bit more focused and trying not to be too risky, and in a way, kind of limit the risk.. at least in our points position.
“That’s kind of how I feel like I’ve been throughout the Playoffs this year. But even a lot of other years, too, and it seems to work out.”
In contrast to the Playoffs, he offered some defense to his tenacious driving style in the opening 26 races, sometimes placing himself in a compromising spot all while pursuing wins.
“I think you’re just a little bit more calculated, probably, in a way,” Larson observed. “I think that sometimes in the regular season, I think you’re willing to take more risks sometimes, just because you know you’ve got 15 more races or something until the Playoffs.
“You can take that risk and it doesn’t damage you as much if it doesn’t work out where I think in the Playoffs, if you’re above the cutline, you’re more kind of cautious and limiting that risk.”
Similar approaches may attribute why Larson and last year’s Championship 4 contenders, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Christopher Bell, are back in this year’s Round of 8 field. Hendrick Motorsports, Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing find themselves in position to battle for the Cup title at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 10.
“I think it says that the four teams have a lot of strengths,” he shared. “But I think to me, I feel like in other eras of like the Gen-6 car – it was changing a lot. The rules were different kind of each year and there was more development going on throughout the year between teams. Now, I just feel like teams are very similar to how they were last year, just because there’s not really much developing in the cars or as much as there was.
“There’s always development within the teams; setups and what they’re finding here and there, but it’s probably a lot smaller than it used to be. I think that’s why you see teams being more consistently good year-to-year, probably, right now.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief for Kyle Larson and the No. 5 team, is instrumental with the wins and successes at a place like Las Vegas. (Photo: Justin Sheldon | The Podium Finish)
While there are little changes with the Next Gen car, it does not mean that a driver like Larson and his team do not elevate their craft. On the contrary, they are fueled by their commitment to excellence in their pursuit to win their first championship in this latest generation of the Cup car.
Even with the successes that Larson has enjoyed in his 12-year Cup career, he has learned from defeat to excel in the highest form of stock car competition. The two, bitter close calls at Las Vegas in 2022 and last year’s spring race catalyzed the 29-time Cup race winner and his No. 5 team to be on the attack from start to finish.
“Just going through the experience of losing. You learn from all of those,” Larson said. “And then in the times of winning, you learn from that, too. And it’s not just all myself.. it’s the whole team that gains that experience, whether it be the pit crew, the guys on the box, the engineers back at the shop. Like we’re all learning each week, no matter how it goes.
“So yeah, I think there’s a number of reasons why I’ve lost races that I’ve dominated before. It hasn’t always been on my end, but there’s also been a lot of races where the team has helped me win. It’s a team sport, and there’s not one single individual that is more important than anybody else.”
