Connect with us

NASCAR Cup Series

Kyle Larson Pursues Second Coca-Cola 600 Win

Kyle Larson hopes to have a relatively clean start in the Coca-Cola 600. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)

CONCORD, N.C. – If Kyle Larson feels a bit of deja vu setting in, that may be bad news for his competitors as the mercury rises from late spring to the summer of 2023.

In the early portion of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Larson had a win at Las Vegas, seven top fives and nine top 10 results to rank third in the points standings.

Now, in 2023, Larson has two wins, five top fives and five top 10s, good enough for ninth in the points standings heading into Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Although the consistency may not be there yet, the 2021 Cup champion cannot help but find parallels with this year and his magical 2021 campaign.

“I feel like this season has felt so similar to 2021,” Larson said in a team press release. “We’ve had a car capable of winning every weekend. Honestly, even a little better than we were in 2021 to this point. I feel like those races were a little more drama-free for us in 2021. We would get those good finishes or finish around where we deserved”.

Larson may have a point considering how the 2021 version of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro team was always in the hunt for wins. No matter the track type or his competitors making gains with their cars, the distinct blue, white and red Chevrolet was in the mix as well.

With the drama between himself and Ross Chastain potentially quelled, the focus can turn to battling for wins and earning more Playoff points for a highly ranked seed starting with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

While Larson starts 12th from the grid due to practice and qualifying’s total rain out on Saturday night, perhaps he can turn to last year’s race for inspiration. After a puzzling start with unforced errors and sloppy mistakes, crew chief Cliff Daniels got on the radio to motivate his driver and team to have a cleaner, better Stages 3 and 4.

Indeed, like Manny Pacquiao, Larson rose to the occasion and fought back to battle for a victory. An intense scrape with Chase Briscoe in the waning laps was cut short when the latter spun off Turn 2 to prompt the first of two Overtime restart session.

Placing ninth after contact with Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon and frontstretch spin in the first Overtime restart session, Larson hopes, much like the theme of this season, to avoid the drama and be the headline focus on the track.

“So far in 2023, we’ve probably not led as many laps, but I feel like we’ve challenged for more wins to this point than we did then,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of things not work out. We’ve won twice and won the All-Star Race, so things are great. If things had gone right like it seemed everything did in 2021, we’d probably have like six or seven wins right now.”

Last Sunday night, Larson showcased resiliency along with his No. 5 team’s sharp, smart thinking to battle for a NASCAR All-Star Race win at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Taking advantage of a Lap 18 caution to take on fresh tires, despite a speeding penalty by Larson that resulted in a deep restart position, it was a quick march from the back of the pack to the lead on Lap 55 and eventual $1 million victory.

Ahead of Sunday night’s 600, Daniels considered how uplifting last Sunday night’s All-Star Race win was for the No. 5 team in relation to Sunday night’s grueling, endurance race at Charlotte.

Last year, Larson was a few laps away from winning the 600. (Photo: Kathryne Porter | The Podium Finish)

“Momentum is a real thing,” Daniels said in a team press release. “We like to think we have some momentum going our way. Obviously, the finishes haven’t always been there the last handful of weeks, but we’ve certainly been upfront and contending. It’s kind of been one of those things where we had to put the blinders on to do our best, maximize our gains and not make mistakes.”

Despite the lack of any on track time prior to the race, Daniels is no stranger to a “show up and race” weekend format. After all, the balance of 2021 was like this due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Like a driven, ambitious head coach for a basketball team, Daniels would like for the team to remain committed to what has worked and clean up on areas of opportunities,

“We try to stay true to our process, the systems and habits that we have in place to execute our week and weekend,” he said. “There’s a lot to be said for maintaining that consistency and that’s really the energy of our team right now and vision for our team moving forward.

“Charlotte is a place that we love dearly. Right here close to home. There is no doubt of how tough the 600-mile race is going to be this weekend. We want to be sure we put our best foot forward.”

Likewise, Larson wants to win again at the Charlotte quad oval layout like he did in 2021. Each weekend, he has taken notice of his team preparing fast, adjustable cars regardless of the venue.

Now, a long, hot summer for his competitors can start with a pursuit of another Coca-Cola 600 win at a track that has been “The House of Hendrick” since the days of Darrell Waltrip’s back-to-back victories in this event in 1988 and 1989.

“I’ve been super happy with the team and the race cars that we bring to the track,” Larson said. “I’m confident that we can keep it up throughout the summer and into the postseason. We proved that we could do it in 2021 and we were really strong in last year’s playoffs.”

Rob Tiongson is a 30-something motorsports journalist who enjoys sports like baseball, basketball, football, soccer, track and field and hockey. A Boston native turned Austinite, racing was the first sport that caught his eyes. From interviews to retrospective articles, if it's about anything with an engine and four wheels, it'll be here on TPF, by him or by one of his talented columnists who have a passion for racing. Currently seeking a sports writing, public relations, or sports marketing career, particularly in motorsports. He enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson, a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, pursues his Master of Arts in Digital Journalism at St. Bonaventure University. Indeed, while Tiongson is proud to be from Massachusetts, he's an everywhere kind of man residing in Texas.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in NASCAR Cup Series