Kyle Larson starts 21st for Sunday’s Würth 400 at Dover. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
DOVER, Del. — Kyle Larson may have some work to do in his pursuit of his second Dover Motor Speedway win.
Prior to Sunday’s Würth 400, Larson logged the 21st fastest time in Saturday’s practice session. While a bit concerning, as he qualified 21st for the 11th race of the NASCAR Cup Series season, he was the 12th fastest in a 10-lap consecutive run.
Given Saturday’s cooler, overcast conditions versus Sunday’s forecast calling for partly sunny conditions in the 80s, anything goes for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry.
During Saturday’s media bullpens, Larson considered why he takes to the 1-mile concrete oval with such confidence and comfort.
“I just enjoy this place cause it’s fast paced,” Larson said during his media availability to Frontstretch‘s Stephen Stumpf. “You can move around quite a bit. You have to take care of your stuff. It’s just an aggressive style racetrack and suits my style quite a bit.”
Even if Larson has a long ways to go to the front of the field, he can consider his 2016 spring race efforts. On that occasion, the 31-year-old Elk Grove, California, native started 23rd, led 85 laps and battled Matt Kenseth for the win.
Although Larson came up a position short against the 2003 Cup champion, he remembered how delighted he was to battle a veteran and his eventual Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott.
Kyle Larson recalled a memorable battle with Matt Kenseth and Chase Elliott in the spring 2016 race at Dover. (Photo: Daniel Rankin | The Podium Finish)
“It was just a super fun battle,” Larson recalled. “I think you always like to think about the memories when you win. But even when I’ve lost races like that, I’ve enjoyed ’em. And I have a ton of respect for Matt. And Chase [Elliott] being in that battle too, he hadn’t won a Cup race to that point, it was the old style car.”
Beyond the thrills of battling Kenseth and Elliott for the win, Larson earned something equally as important as confidence and experience — respect.
“We were just slippin’ and slidin’ and it was fun and clean,” he shared. “It was really, really clean racing which was good. I know I earned Matt’s respect that day and that was important to me as well. Obviously, it’d have been nice to win it and get my first Cup win at the time. But it was just a super, intense kind of final 20 laps or so.”
Now, as Larson hopes to turn things around after finishing 21st at Texas and Talladega, he hopes to return to his frontrunner’s form seen at Las Vegas, Bristol, Richmond and Martinsville.
Likewise, Larson hopes to strengthen his impressive record at Dover. In 15 prior starts, Larson has a win in the autumn 2019 race, seven top fives and 11 top 10s, resulting in an average finish of 8.6.
Last year, Larson had a car capable of contending for the win, driving from 18th to the top five before Ross Chastain tangled with him and Brennan Poole, resulting in a Turn 1 accident that heavily damaged the No. 5 car.
As a result, Larson placed 32nd, 42 laps down. Despite last year’s setback, Larson is exceptionally strong and consistent at the high banked oval.
Kyle Larson and his No. 5 team work to extract the most from their car for Sunday’s Würth 400 at Dover. (Photo: Jennie Mae Lingle | The Podium Finish)
“It’s just always kind of clicked with me,” he said. “I’ve always ran really well here and led lots of laps and fortunately won one race. I would’ve like to have won a lot more. I just know we’re going to have a good shot every time we come here, so I get excited about that.”
Whenever Larson is excited and feels confident about his chances to win, more than likely, he backs up those words and thoughts. Starting on the inside of Row 11, Larson’s distinct blue, white and red colors will likely be a force to be reckoned with on Sunday afternoon.
“I love going to Dover,” Larson said in a team press release. “It’s a track where I have led a lot of laps, have a win and a lot of good finishes. Similar to Bristol, I like the concrete surface and it seems Hendrick Motorsports always has fast cars there.”
