Kyle Larson Pursues First New Hampshire Cup Win

After a top five result in the Kings Royal race at Eldora Speedway, Kyle Larson hopes for a productive race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)

LOUDON, N.H. – In 2014, Kyle Larson could not do anything but tally podium finishes at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

As a rookie racer in the NASCAR Cup Series, Larson drove his Chip Ganassi Racing ride to third and second place finishes. At the time, Larson was not sure why “The Magic Mile” suited his driving style, but the results backed up his effort and hustle.

In Larson’s past four starts, it has not always been the smoothest of trips to the 1.058-mile track. After placing 12th in 2018, the Elk Grove, California native crashed in 2019, tallied a respectable seventh in 2021 and slipped to a 14th place finish last year.

Notably, the 30-year-old driver of the No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry recognizes how this track has stymied his organization at times. Still, he and his team nearly bucked the trend by finishing in third in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2 of last year’s Crayon 301.

“New Hampshire is not the greatest track for Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said. “But I thought we had a good race here last year and didn’t end up as well as we’d like. But, we ran up front for the first couple stages and I was expecting more grip out there. It’s pretty hot out and (we have a) new tire (package) and all that. So yeah, it was pretty slick.”

Mastering the handling issues with the No. 5 car seems to be a common thread for Larson and New Hampshire. On top of that, Cup competitors are racing with a different tire compound than the one used last year.

After qualifying 15th and posting the 14th fastest time in practice on Saturday, Larson was not so quick to point to the tire compound for his middling pace.

It was 30 years in the past when a red No. 5 car won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Josh Jones | The Podium Finish)

“I haven’t heard anything as far as tire wear is concerned, so I don’t know,” he said. “But you know, obviously it’s a new tire, so I’ll probably go ask Cliff what they’ve seen so far from practice. Nobody really got to run a whole lot. So I don’t even know if that sort of stuff shows up yet.”

Complicating matters is a green racetrack for Monday’s race, the 20th round of the 2023 season. Heavy rain on Sunday washed away any rubber laid down on the black top, likely putting drivers like Larson somewhat on the edge to find the comfort of their car.

“I just feel like I just can’t trust either end of the car right now,” he said. “And I’m pretty married to one lane, it seems, and I don’t necessarily like that. I’m running fourth gear the whole time so far just to guard for my entry. I don’t really love that. I would just love a little bit more versatility in the car and comfort.”

Typically, Larson enjoys driving his car in different grooves depending on the scenario in a race. At times, he will run the “Handsome Harry Gant” line right up against the wall. On occasions, he makes it a habit to race the bottom lane like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Ahead of Monday’s 301-lap race, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion hopes that his team can find the balance with his Camaro, particularly with its handling characteristics.

“If I get some comfort, then I can be a little more versatile with my lines and and all that,” Larson said. “But practice is so short that you don’t have time to really try a whole lot of stuff behind the wheel and set up stuff as well. It just makes it hard.

“But that part of it. It’s exciting, I think, as well. I just need to go back and like look at data and all that first before I really give a fair answer.”

Generally speaking, it helps to have a good practice round to build off the pace and successes in potential race trim. Then again, Larson may take comfort in the winner’s starting position in the past five years.

Generally speaking, Larson likes his chances ahead of Monday’s race even if practice was not up to his liking. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

Mainly, three of the past five winners at New Hampshire have started 14th or worse. Given these points, Larson is confident that his team will have his No. 5 entry percolating as a genuine, consistently quick frontrunner on Monday afternoon.

“I feel like in our history with having practice, if we’ve had bad practices, we’ve done a pretty good job of of coming back (on race day) and being much stronger,” he said. “So I’m confident in in whatever change, if there is any change at all, to be made before (race day).

“I’m confident that it will be for the better and we will have a better race car. And like I said earlier, I don’t even know if I have a bad racecar right now. It just drives bad. So we’ll see. The sport’s super tough. All the teams are super good, but I believe our team is one of the best.”

Editor’s Notes

Nathan Solomon contributed to this article on site from New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.