Kyle Larson was one of the drivers during the Chicago Street Race who may have had the best chance of winning. However, things did not seem to work out for him as the rain-soaked race progressed. Somewhere, in the middle of the race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver ended up being stuck in a massive pile-up off turn 11. Thereafter, he wasn’t able to get back the same momentum and climb up the ladder when the caution ended.
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Following the race, Larson spoke with NASCAR journalist Bob Pockrass, sharing his thought on that one aspect that he felt NASCAR lacked during the inaugural Grant Park 220.
Kyle Larson Critiques This Aspect of NASCAR’s Chicago Race
During the interview, Larson stated, “I guess there’s nowhere for me to go you know… I just come to a stop too, because I’ve got nowhere to go and then you know a couple of them are able to get lucky and get behind. Then the cars who were actually the reason for the crash also got their spot back. So I felt like we were put back a few spots further than we should have been, but I’m sure a lot of people felt the same way…”
One of the issues Sunday was how to set the lineup when the track is primarily blocked. NASCAR pretty much went back to the previous scoring loop rather than reviewing every car and how they blended. Kyle Larson was one of those who questions his position. pic.twitter.com/pCPN9z8DSS
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) July 3, 2023
“A few of them probably felt like they got lucky. So it just is what it is. I think NASCAR needs to look at it and maybe find a prime cause of the caution… Then the #45 and the #54 got lucky. Getting to be like seven or eight cars in front of me, you just need to stop to miss it.”
“So it’s just a product of street course racing and just got to figure out the right way… I think we just got to discuss it after this and come up with something that we could all agree upon that might be as fair as we make it to be.”
The Grant Park 220 had a massive pile-up during the race
As the race progressed, William Byron found himself in the wall after failing to make turn 11. However, due to his position, Kevin Harvick in the #4 car tried to avoid him and ended up sliding sideways. Following close behind, Corey LaJoie in the #7 car also got entangled in the confusion and collided with Harvick.
Soon after, both the #4 and #7 car sat sideways on the narrow race track. There was just about enough space for a few cars to avoid the pile-up and continue on.
Then as the #4 car attempted to free itself from the wreck, he managed to completely block off the path causing a full-on traffic jam, with the Cup cars just sitting there. Out of several drivers, Kyle Larson was one of the cars stuck behind this pile-up. Soon after the incident, the caution flag was brought out.
Thankfully all the cars made it out without much damage from the incident, albeit after the loss of positions. Moreover, given the street circuit-like environment with virtually no run-off area, such incidents were almost inevitable. Even so, despite the significant pile-up, the track was not obstructed for a prolonged period and the race carried on after a brief caution period.
