Kyle Larson hopes to have the speed and power to compete for this year’s championship. (Photo: Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
DARLINGTON, S.C. – As the postseason kicks off in full swing at Darlington Raceway, Kyle Larson looks forward to the opening round of the championship quest.
In many ways, the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is the true season within the 36-race schedule. For Larson and his No. 5 team, the rewards and hard work of the regular season provide the opportunity to pursue the genuine purpose of racing in stock car’s highest level.
It was not the best stretch for the 2021 Cup champion in the last five regular season races of the year. Finishes of 19th, fifth, eighth, 26th and 27th relegated Larson to the sixth position in the Round of 16.
Before tonight’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington, Larson briefly mulled over the opening leg of the Playoffs upon his first superspeedway race finish of the year.
“Yeah, there are some good tracks for us in the Playoffs and just ready to get started and hopefully get some momentum going,” Larson said. “You just hope you have got the same speed this time around that you had earlier this year. We were really strong and I would like to get off to a good start.”
Based on Saturday’s practice speed charts, he may not have incredible fire off speed but he is solidly inside the top 10 for the 10 consecutive lap average run. Much like in the past five races at “The Lady in Black,” the Hendrick Motorsports racer has a good, long green flag run car.
That may be pivotal considering his middling 18th place starting position, leaving him with an outside spot in Row 9. The last driver to win from the 18th position at Darlington was Carl Edwards in 2015, the penultimate winner of the pre-Stage era Southern 500.
Sure, the job will be tough but not impossible for the 21-time Cup race winner. On top of that, he is focused on minimizing unforced errors.
“I think I have had the same mindset my whole career that I have ever made the Playoffs and that is just being consistent, finishing and not making mistakes,” he said. “If you remember last year, I had a mistake at the Roval, and it bit me and cost us a chance to win the championship. So, if you can finish and be consistent and get good stage points, you can help yourself out quite a bit. So, that is the mindset for me.”
Likewise, the pressure to defend the 2021 championship seemed to affect Larson’s mentality particularly during crunch time at the Charlotte Roval.
“Last year was just difficult on many fronts,” he said. “We had a lot of adversity throughout the year speed-wise, mistakes, and all that and we still were in the final four for the owner’s championship. So, it was a good realization that our team is extremely good and if we just clean things up, we can be really strong.”
Typically, Larson has been like a quarterback who does not mind throwing the deep passes with the hopes of the huge reception or touchdown. After all, those moments can catalyze a team as much as the fans in the stands.
An 18th starting position may not be the best for Kyle Larson, but he has the long run pace. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
Sometimes, that can put a team in a compromised position, shuffling the strategy from being on the attack to playing defense. This year, it has been being in position to win races versus overdriving or overdoing the maximum effort.
“I feel like we did that this year, I think we did that and although the results look very similar, we have been a way better team consistently this year,” he said. “We have challenged for a lot more wins this year. So, yeah, I think we are in a good spot going into the Playoffs and hopefully we can just be smooth and quietly make our way through.”
A strong Cook Out Southern 500 may open the doors for wins in the Rounds of 16 and 12, the critical initiating stanzas that can make or break a driver and team’s hopes for a championship. Back in 2021, Larson kicked off the postseason with a runner-up at Darlington, sixth at Richmond and win at Bristol.
That provided some wiggle room in the Round of 12 when he placed 10th at Las Vegas, wrecked at Talladega and rallied from early race issues to win at the Charlotte Roval.
Building momentum may be as pivotal as trying to win one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events. That does not mean that he has forgotten about his costly error at Charlotte.
Tonight, he hopes to make a genuine, competitive run at his second title in the past three seasons, all with Hendrick’s No. 5 team.
“It hasn’t been that long since I won a championship, so I have only gone one year without winning one,” Larson said. “So, I don’t know how I feel. Last year felt shitty because I screwed up at the Roval and took myself out of it. So, that wasn’t fun to deal with. But, at the end of the year we still had three wins and that is not a bad year. This year we have got three wins as well and won the All-Star race.”
“We won a lot more than a lot of people did and this year we still have 10 races left. So, I try to be a glass half full guy most of the time, so I try to set realistic expectations as well.”
