Kyle Larson is inarguably the most versatile driver on the NASCAR grid presently. In the last couple of races, he has shown the ability to hunt for the win by lurking in the shadows of the race leaders. While he was having a pretty satisfying race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, everything came crashing down for him after encountering a late race spin.
Advertisement
Larson had been in close proximity to Bubba Wallace but suddenly spun out despite not making contact with the #23 car. Later on after the race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver spoke about what went wrong for him at the point. Interestingly, he absolved the NASCAR Next Gen car for playing a part in his wreck.
Kyle Larson speaks about his late-race-ruining spin at Texas
Speaking after the race, Larson mentioned, “I don’t think it is the byproduct of the car. I think if I could just replay it again, I would just give more space into 1 (turn) and race it out off of 2 (turn), and eventually the bottom would have won out.”
“So I was just trying to get it all too quickly and should have just worked for another corner.”
In the end, Wallace finished the race in third place, while Larson left Texas with a 31st-place result. Despite the result, the HMS driver still remains above the cutline, although just barely.
Larson needs a win to secure himself for the next round
A lot of people might consider Larson to be a championship contender, but his results have just not been as consistent as he would like. Yes, he does run well, and he has won three races through the season, but it is the post-season performances that matter the most.
After all, you could be a regular season champion on day one and then tumble down the order and just barely make it to the next round all within three races, just like Martin Truex Jr. did.
Moving forward as we prepare for the next race weekend and the infamous Talladega Superspeedway, Larson would have to bring his A-game for the race. The HMS driver would have to try his best and at least stay out of a wreck, and finish the race with decent points. We just have two more races before the elimination, and Larson will have to find a way to cushion himself with more points before these races conclude.
