Kyle Larson had a strong, dominant performance en route to a fourth place finish at Kansas. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Following four and a half months of relatively quiet performances, Kyle Larson is heating up when it counts.
After winning at Darlington Raceway, Larson entered the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway weekend with confidence. This swagger was on display when Larson qualified second for Race No. 29 of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Likewise, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was among the fastest cars in a one lap and 10-lap consecutive average run. The focus for Larson and crew chief Cliff Daniels was having a car that could be close to neutral as opposed to edgy and loose in the past three Kansas races.
It was evident that Larson had the class of the field when he took the lead on Lap 10 from pole sitter Christopher Bell. Leading the way until Lap 39 for the race’s first green flag pit stop sequence, Larson was dominant, winning Stage 1 and netting a Playoff point and 10 stage points.
Once Stage 2 ensued, Larson showcased more of his car’s dominant form until Lap 132. A majority of the lead lap contenders trailing Larson opted for fresh tires and fuel.
During that lap’s restart, Larson chose the outside line and nearly lost control of his car in Turn 2 before regathering control on the backstretch. In concert with those with fresher tires, Larson dropped outside of the top 20.
Salvaging a 19th place result in Stage 2, Larson’s strategy changed from maintaining a dominant pace to carving a path back toward the front. Initially climbing up to 14th in the opening laps of Stage 3, a Lap 175 caution for Harrison Burton’s Turn 3 accident brought Larson back to pit road for fresh tires.
At times, Kyle Larson looked more like Jeff Gordon on the fast Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
Restarting 29th, Larson charged his way up to fifth with one of the field’s fastest cars. However, he would need a caution to have any chance at a Kansas victory.
On Lap 262, that caution occurred when Chris Buescher’s car had a cut tire, leaving debris on the track. Larson, along with leader Denny Hamlin and the remaining lead lap contenders, proceeded to pit for their final stop of the race.
Opting for four fresh tires and fuel, Larson drove to pit road exit before a maddening scene initiated. Stuck inside a four wide formation on pit road exit, Larson tried his best to not hit of his competitors with Brad Keselowski exiting his stall to his inside.
Suddenly, Larson made inadvertent contact with teammate Chase Elliott’s No. 9 car, frustrating the latter as he door slammed the former’s car.
Undeterred, Larson opted to restart on the outside of Row 4 for the Overtime restart. While Larson timed his restart efficiently, Hamlin anticipated his move, blocking his charge before placing fourth in the final Kansas rundown.
If there is any takeaway for Larson from Kansas, it was about the fundamentals of effective restart choices.
“Just picking and choosing your lanes the right way,” Larson said. “We had a great No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy. It was good on the short runs and really good on the long runs compared to everybody else. I was struggling, as well, but I felt really good about my car.”
Looking more like his form in his 2021 championship season, the Elk Grove, California native considered the positives despite coming up short of a potential fourth win.
“It’s a bummer, but sometimes it goes that way,” he said. “All-in-all, we were able to recover. I only got into the wall once today. We had two great cars to start the playoffs. You have to look at the positives. We got stage points, so that’s good, as well.”
Still, Larson considered the possibility of restarting on the inside lane despite Daniel Suárez’s car having older tires.
Leading 99 laps, Kyle Larson looked like the man to beat at Kansas. (Photo: Cole Penning | The Podium Finish)
“Obviously with the No. 99 staying out, you just don’t know what his grip level is going to be, so I choose the top,” he said. “I just didn’t want to be in the same lane as him. Obviously with the pack, if I would have chosen the bottom, that’s where the No. 45 (Tyler Reddick) ended up and he came out the winner.
“I need to see how the replay looks, but I thought I could get to Denny’s outside, he blocked me. I went to the middle, got clear of him and then he just had a good run off of (turn) two and was able to get to the bottom and get in front of me.”
The new points leader considered the scenario further particularly with scoring an even better result than his fourth place outcome. Nevertheless, Larson has less than a week until he has another chance to win another Round of 16 Playoffs race at Bristol.
“Maybe if I would have went to the bottom and protect it a little bit, I could have been leading that,” Larson said. “I still don’t think I would have gotten to the lead, but maybe I could have finished second like he did.”
