Kyle Larson starts fourth in Sunday’s Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Sean Folsom | The Podium Finish)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson is usually a contender at a majority of the NASCAR Cup Series tracks. Texas Motor Speedway is no exception with his win in the 2021 Texas Playoffs race, his eighth of 10 victories in a championship season.
However, the two most recent trips to this 1.5-mile track have dealt tough blows to the driver of the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet. In 2023, while battling Bubba Wallace for the lead in a late race restart, he crashed hard into the Turn 1 wall, dropping out with a 31st place finish.
Last year, Larson lost his right front wheel during a caution period on Lap 77, resulting in a two-lap penalty after winning Stage 1. Despite clawing back into the lead lap, Larson could only muster a 21st place finish.
Heading into Sunday’s Würth 400, Larson has confidence in his team’s execution and approach at intermediate tracks. Simply put, it has the makings of a potentially rewarding weekend for the 31-time Cup race winner.
“We’ve always had a good mile-and-a-half program I feel like and we’ve just always improved on it,” Larson said in a team press release. “Plus we’ve won Texas before. I think this weekend has potential to be another strong weekend for the No. 5 [Valvoline] team.”
So far, it has been all systems go, with Larson posting the fourth-fastest overall time in Saturday’s practice session. He also showed strong long-run pace, recording the seventh-quickest 10-lap consecutive average.
Kyle Larson has the pace in short and long runs to excel in Sunday’s Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
Larson backed up his quick practice results by qualifying fourth in the field of 38 drivers. A strong qualifying performance earned him pit stall 24, a unique selection due to its proximity to the start/finish line and its open entry for pit exit.
Ahead of Sunday’s 267-lap race, Larson was named as the substitute driver for the No. 88 Blues Hog Chevrolet normally piloted by Connor Zilisch. As the latter recovers from injuries sustained in a late race crash at Talladega Superspeedway, the native of Elk Grove, California, reflected on how JR Motorsports contacted him ahead of the Texas race weekend.
“They reached out Wednesday around lunchtime,” Larson shared after his victory on Saturday. “I had a text from Mardy [Lindley] to give him a call, and I haven’t texted with Mardy in years. So I figured Connor was probably not going to be able to race. I gave him a call and got to talk to L.W. Miller [Director of Motorsports, JR Motorsports] as well. And [they] just they asked if I could be available for it which I was able to.”
Answering the call, Larson relished the opportunity to make his unplanned third start of the 2025 NASCAR XFINITY Series season. His victory in Saturday’s Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 was a treat in more ways than one.
“I love running XFINITY cars. So I got really excited when I got the call from them and Texas is a track that suits me well [as it’s] a mile and a half track,” he said. “Knowing that I was going to get to go to a track that I was really comfortable at, I was excited about that. I’ve known Mardy Lindley, too, for my whole stock car career. He was at Rev Racing with Bryan Ortiz, I think back then, and I probably talked to Mardy as much as I talked to my crew chief back then.
“He’s just a cool guy. And I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten to race a car that he’s been the sole crew chief on. So I was really excited to finally get to race with him. And [I’m] thankful to have a good day with him and get a win and take some Victory Lane photos with him.”
Kyle Larson enters Sunday’s Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway with a lot of confidence. (Photo: Rachel Schuoler | The Podium Finish)
Now, Larson shifts his focus to Sunday’s race and his effort to snap a two-year stretch of bad luck at Texas. Despite his confidence and experience in the Next Gen cars, the veteran racer points out that cornering at this venue in a Cup car versus an XFINITY car is essentially apples to oranges.
“No, I agree with what William [Byron] said. I think like each time we come here, the color is lighter, but the grip in it and the lanes that we run have been the same for the past six years at least,” he observed. “Probably [Turns] 3 and 4, I feel like it got pretty rough there early on after the repave and it’s kind of maintained. I don’t think that the Cup cars are able to run as high as the XFINTY cars in 3 and 4 because the higher you run over there, there’s that one little bump, bigger bump just past the center.
“I feel like the Cup cars, the bumps kind of upset us a lot. We get into the stop, and that’s why you see people crash over there often. So I don’t think we’ll move up as high as XFINITY cars did [on Saturday] at that end. And then [Turns] 1 and 2, we’re all going to move up to above that whatever seam, whatever lane that is. And we’ll be stuck there. So, it’s the same Texas it’s been for a while. I don’t foresee it ever changing to what it used to be.”
Editor’s Notes
Sean Folsom contributed to this article onsite at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.
