All appeared to be going in Kyle Larson’s favor until mid-race contact with Ryan Preece that sparked a late race incident. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
BRISTOL, Tenn. – For 60% of Sunday night’s Food City Dirt Race, Kyle Larson seemed like the man to beat at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Although the 250-lap race offering a different look and feel with dirt track racing versus what Larson is accustomed to during his recurring dirt track efforts, he was a prime contender in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro.
For starters, Larson, who was the pole sitter, led all of Stage 1, earning the victory and distinction as the likely favorite in the ninth round of the season. Moreover, he backed up his Stage 1 win with a strong third in Stage 2.
While Larson tallied a third place result in Stage 2, he made contact with Ryan Preece on Lap 79 just before the stripe. Preece made contact with the frontstretch wall, but appeared to be OK and still in the hunt.
Regardless of the circumstances, Preece was upset with Larson over the frontstretch skirmish, particularly with a hand gesture during a caution on Lap 81.
Larson found himself starting toward the midfield in Stage 3 with a myriad of drivers opting to stay out for track position. Despite having a car fast enough to rally toward the front, Larson committed an unforced error when he spun off Turn 4 to bring out a caution on Lap 154.
A Lap 79 incident between Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece resulted in a controversial moment on Lap 174. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
Outside of the top 25, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion attempted to carve his way up the leaderboard. However, trouble ensued once Larson and Preece battled for position.
Heading into Turn 1, Preece bumped and spun Larson into the wall. Adding insult to injury, Larson’s car made additional contact with Preece on the backstretch before making race ending contact with the Turn 3 wall.
A promising Sunday night was essentially eliminated from a Lap 79 moment that escalated into Larson’s third Did Not Finish (DNF) of the year.
“I’m guessing he was paying me back for whatever I did earlier,” Larson said. “He ran me straight into the fence and my car was broke and we crashed. It sucks, but I should just be mad at myself for spinning out earlier and putting myself back there. Just sucks.
“The tires seemed to operate better when they were hotter. Just didn’t get to run very long there at the end.”
When Larson recalled the Lap 79 incident with Preece, he explained the situation and the moment that resulted in a Lap 175 crash.
“I haven’t seen the contact from earlier in the race,” he said. “It was a tight, tight clear off before and I’m looking in my mirror and didn’t seem that he was to my outside yet. But I don’t know if he got into the wall. But he had a pretty short temper. Obviously, he was trying to crash me, I think, after that and was swerving at me under yellow.
“I assumed it had been an hour and a half or so since that happened. And it wasn’t my fault why he ended up spun out in the back.”
Admittedly, Larson did not recall any past transgressions with Preece especially with the latter’s initial foray into Cup.
“I haven’t honestly raced them that much. He’s been kind of out of the Cup Series a little bit for last couple years.” he said. “And he wasn’t in the best stuff when he was Cup racing before. So I haven’t spent too much time around him.
“I don’t remember if I’ve been or if he’s been mad at me before. I’ve never been mad at him. But I know he was obviously. I mean, everybody saw his comments after COTA, so I’m sure he’s standing his ground, I guess, right now.”
As calm and collected as Larson was after the race ending, Lap 175 crash, he did not mince words about the skirmish.
“I mean, I’m a little bit surprised, just because it’s been so long. I figured we could just be grownups and get the f*** over it. But I guess not,” Larson said. “What’s there to talk about? He’s mad at me. I guess I’m mad at him. What’s there to talk about?”
Despite placing 35th, Larson netted 20 points thanks to his Stage 1 win and third place finish in Stage 2. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
Talks may not be occurring between Larson and Preece anytime soon. That said, he plans to hit the reset button ahead of the next short track race of the year.
“I’m not gonna let it carry it forward,” he said. “I’m mostly mad at myself. I shouldn’t have been back there. I spun out. So I shouldn’t be in here right now. But it’s just racing.”
Now, it is about focusing on Sunday’s NOCO 400 at Martinsville (3 p.m. ET on FS1 and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Placing 19th and second in last year’s races, the Elk Grove, California native pursues his first grandfather clock.
“I felt like we were good at Martinsville last year. And our car has been really good with the low downforce package right now. So yeah, I would you like to go there and have the same speed we’ve had every race this year, so we’ll see,” he said.
