Kyle Larson Zeroes In On Second Nashville Victory

Kyle Larson starts seventh in his quest to win his second Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)

LEBANON, Tenn. – With the final 10 regular season races awaiting Kyle Larson and his No. 5 team, their focus turns to turning up the wick and scoring more wins for a higher Playoffs spot.

After a rough stretch of races for the 30-year-old Elk Grove, California racer, including crashes at Talladega, Dover, Darlington and Charlotte, Larson dropped from a season high ranking of fourth to 11th in the regular season standings.

Certainly, the 21-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner was in position to make the Playoffs, but the momentum and swagger prevalent with the team was a bit cooled off. The highs, like the wins at Richmond and Martinsville along with the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, were offset by those accidents along with prior DNFs at Daytona and Atlanta.

Despite a 30th place DNF at Charlotte, it seemed like the tide started to turn back in Larson’s favor. The No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team worked feverishly to improve the handling of Larson’s car in the Coca-Cola 600, even opening the hood and making adjustment that took some methodical thinking and precise attentiveness by crew chief Cliff Daniels.

Larson was able to drive his way from the mid-20s to the top five in concert with good pit stops in NASCAR’s longest race of the season. Although the fruits of their labor were extinguished by a late race crash, it was clear that the team knew how to get a grip out of an ill handling car.

Less than a week later, Larson’s car was off on pace and handling in the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois.

Larson and company have dealt with some eventful times in the spring. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)

Dropping from 22nd to 32nd in the opening moments of the race, Daniels and the No. 5 team made drastic changes to the car that naturally catalyzed their driver from being in danger of going a lap down to clicking off competitive laps and into the top-10 on pure pace.

Quality adjustments along with a late race pit strategy gamble to take just two tires and fuel in the closing stage at Gateway, Larson battled Kyle Busch for a potential win before settling for a fourth place finish in NASCAR Overtime.

Most recently, Larson had a fast car at Sonoma Raceway but could only muster a 16th place qualifying effort. On race day, Daniels trusted his driver and team to focus on a great finish versus focusing on stage points and getting trapped in a precarious position with potential, impending restarts at the 1.99-mile road course.

Smooth and steady did not win the race for Larson and Daniels, but it rewarded them with a respectable eighth place finish, retaining a top 10 points standings ranking going into Sunday night’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway (7 p.m. ET on NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

So far, the execution has been workmanlike, posting the 14th fastest time in a hot lap ranking but fifth quickest time in a 10 lap average run. Altogether, the No. 5 team are focused on a strong, long green flag run car especially once nightfall encompasses the track in Southeast Tennessee.

Moreover, Larson qualified seventh despite a few close bobbles. Nevertheless, he avoided the stressful fates that Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suárez encountered in their qualifying runs when both drivers spun off Turn 4.

Prior to the race, Larson observed how nighttime may be the right time for himself, the competitors and fans in the grandstands.

Despite a few bobbles, Larson posted the seventh fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)

“I think more night racing is better,” Larson said. “It’s a better show for the fans. You get some sparks and stuff like that. It should be cooler at night too, so that will be good. I do love night racing.”

After placing third in a World of Outlaws race in Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota on Saturday night, perhaps the Californian will duplicate his winning ways at the 1.333-mile concrete Nashville Superspeedway much like he did in 2021.

Last year, Larson tallied a fourth place run with a decent points haul in Stages 1 and 2. All told, Daniels enjoys the challenge of preparing a potentially race winning ride for his driver and team.

“We are certainly looking forward to going to Nashville,” Daniels said in a team press release. “Love going there. Love the track. It’s a super unique track. It’s concrete and both ends are a little bit different from each other, which adds character and is a little bit fun.”

If anything, Daniels wants to get the team’s third points paying race win of the season and replicate their winning performance in the inaugural Cup race at this venue two years ago.

The Larson and Daniels combination hope to replicate some magic from 2021 in Sunday night’s Ally 400. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)

There is nothing like winning and momentum in a high stakes, high pressure kind of division like the NASCAR Cup Series, something Larson and Daniels understand and appreciate fully especially as the going gets tough in these next 10 to 20 weeks.

“We are certainly studying everything we can from recent intermediate races and our experience there last year to try to get it all right for this weekend,” he said. “A lot of it is going to be about execution at the end.

“The race starts in the evening, so the sun will be out and then it will transition into nighttime, which is a little bit different of an aspect. I think it’s going to be fun and we are just trying to check all the right boxes.”