Last weekend at the WWT Gateway, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch had a coming-together on the track that had a lot of people on edge. Busch had displayed his ‘Rowdy’ side against Corey LaJoie in the All-Star race and some fans believed that it might come out against Larson this week. However, when the two came close to each other at Sonoma, the two-time Cup Series champion kept it clean.
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Not even Larson was expecting that as he admitted to being surprised when Busch just let him by without any attempt to defend. It impressed the Hendrick Motorsports star who credited the veteran for being a respectful race car driver regardless of the frustrating struggles he has been facing of late.
“He always races with a lot of respect. I was surprised that he kind of just let me go and didn’t get racey with me but he’s very respectful out there and he’s very smart about the way he manages his race,” he said in the post-race press conference.
The 2021 Cup Series champion ended up taking his second career Cup Series victory at the wine country road course but admitted that he was nervous when he had to fight the leaders towards the end.
Kyle Larson admits to being nervous before fighting for the lead at Sonoma
The #5 team had come up with a sound strategy but there was a bit of confusion on the driver’s part until the end. As Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher battled for the lead in the final stretch of the race, Larson waited in P3 and pounced when the opportunity presented itself. But he was not sure that he was meant to be racing them.
“I didn’t know what we were doing as far as strategy. I was just out there banging laps away. … So I was like, these guys have to pit another time maybe but then when they said I had to go race and then pass those guys, I got a bit nervous. I knew I’d be quick from the get-go but thought once the tires came up to temp it would even off too much,” he said as per NASCAR.
Luckily for HMS, Yung Money had the composure and race craft to take the checkered flag, a much-needed result after the disappointment of the Indy 500 weekend.
