Rolling off from the third position, Kyle Larson hopes to tally his third win of 2023 and first at Pocono. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Penn. – Typically, Kyle Larson is like Harry Bosch – everybody counts or nobody counts.
The 30-year-old Elk Grove, California native prefers going all out for victories even if his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ends up hooked to the wrecker. An all out approach has made Larson one of the more dynamic racers in sprint and stock car competition.
However, in the past six races, save for Atlanta, Larson has been methodical, smooth and precise with his marks. On days where his car may not have the winning pace, he nudges his way to a top five or top 10 result.
During that six race stretch, Larson has averaged a 10th place result. Without the 36th at Atlanta considered, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion’s average finish improves to a staggering 4.8.
Still, the most telling statistic of this most recent run of races is the number of laps led – 15. Although today’s NASCAR does not award bonus points for leading laps, it may be telling about Larson’s cautiously aggressive approach.
Things may be improving for Larson’s chances at a win after a strong Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway. Kicking off his on track efforts with the fourth quickest practice time, Larson qualified third with an impressive time in the final round.
After Saturday afternoon’s efforts, Larson was pleased with his car’s strong pace particularly in qualifying.
“It felt good,” Larson said. “I feel like I messed up my Round 1 lap, so I thought I could go a bit better in Round 2 and we did. I just didn’t quite do a great job in Turn 1, but it seems like (Turns) 2 and 3, I was OK. I’m happy to improve on it and start third.”
Over the years, Pocono Raceway has been a relatively solid track for Larson with a career average result of 11.0. It goes beyond Larson’s equipment improving drastically in the past three years.
“The Tricky Triangle” has been not too perplexing for Larson in recent races. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“I think our cars were decent here at (Chip) Ganassi and then (it) still continues to be good at Hendrick,” he said. “It’s a track that, because I’ve ran well here, I enjoy it. So I look forward to coming here and I like that it’s different. It takes a different style in each corner of the racetrack. So, for whatever reason, I think it’s suited me.”
As for Larson’s thoughts on what makes Pocono unique versus its sister speeedways, he initially responded in jest before offering some insights.
“The obvious,” he said with a laugh. “Yeah, three corners, I guess. But, I mean, Turn 2 is bumpy. Turn 3 is getting a little bit bumpier. Turn 1 is more of a conventional corner, lots of grip. But yeah, it’s just every track’s different. But this place is just a little bit more different.”
Ahead of Sunday’s 160-lap race, Larson maintained that he would like to keep the clean, consistent stretch ongoing. Then again, if the opportunity is there to potentially win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, he will do what he can to bring the No. 5 car back to Victory Lane for the first time since the NOCO 400 at Martinsville in April.
“I think all of us want Playoff points and with victories comes Playoff points, so you want to win,” Larson said. “I would love to just gain points. I think we’re eighth in regular season points.
“But third or second is within reach. If we go on a heater here the next handful of races, even a regular season championship isn’t out of the question. But with each position we gain in the regular season points is another Playoff point for the Playoffs.”
Given the recent dominance by Joe Gibbs Racing in the past two months, Larson hopes to respond in kind by locking the best possible Playoffs points position possible.
“I would love to get some clean races in here and feel like we’ve been doing a good job of that the last month,” he said. “(We) just need to keep getting stage points and hopefully some stage wins and some race wins along the way.”
Editor’s Note
Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
