Kyle Larson worked his way from his 17th starting position to place fifth in Monday’s race at Michigan. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. – Kyle Larson’s path to a fifth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway was not without an interesting journey.
Besides contending with Mother Nature’s impacts with the FireKeepers Casino 400, Larson had his work cut out for him with his starting position. Rolling off from 17th for the 200-lap race, Larson methodically worked his way inside the top 10 to finish fifth in Stage 1.
Once Stage 2 kicked off, Larson ran as high as third partly because of a fast No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet and pit strategy. Seesaw strategies saw Larson’s track position go about in Helter Skelter fashion.
Despite rain red flagging the race on Lap 75, prompting Round 23 to push into Monday afternoon, the Hendrick Motorsports racer remained in contention. Placing sixth in Stage 2, the 31-year-old racer tallied 11 valuable stage points.
As Stage 3 was underway, trouble ensued on the backstretch on Lap 128 in front of Larson’s car. A chain reaction accident kicked off when Todd Gilliland reacted to Michael McDowell’s somewhat slower No. 34 Ford. With the field reacting to the logjam, Chase Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford made inadvertent contact with Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet.
In the midst of the backstretch fracas, Larson and Briscoe tangled briefly, damaging the right front of the No. 5 Chevy. Larson made multiple pit stops to attend to any potential cosmetic damage.
With fresh tires and fuel to pit later in Stage 3, the Elk Grove, California native restarted 31st on Lap 134. By Lap 157, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was up to 15th.
After falling to 31st place, Larson stormed his way to fifth at Michigan. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
Although Larson lacked the dominant pace of Martin Truex Jr., who swept Stages 1 and 2, the multiple pit stops prior to the Lap 134 restart paid off.
While the lead lap contenders making their final pit stops, Larson inherited the lead on Lap 176. Pitting on Lap 178, he dropped outside of the top 10 for a brief moment.
Inside the final 20 laps, the cagey veteran racer picked off positions, one-by-one. On Lap 196, Larson was up to fifth where he wound up finishing.
Tallying 43 points and the ninth-highest Driver Rating (93.4), Larson pondered about his Michigan efforts if the Lap 128 incident did not occur.
“I felt like we were a little bit better, and then after that wreck off of (Turn) 2, the No. 14 (Chase Briscoe) and I hit pretty decently,” Larson said. “I just felt like we were a little slower after that. I think the handling was still similar, but just a little bit slower overall.”
Considering the past two races in which Larson placed 19th at Richmond and 20th at Pocono, a fifth-place result is not too shabby. Sometimes, in NASCAR Cup Series racing, it is about making the most out of the situation.
“We took what we could get out of the day. Happy with the pit strategy there at the end to get some track position and come away with a top-five for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy. We’ll take it.”
