The last time Kyle Larson raced at Kansas Speedway, on May 11, he acted as if he owned the place. He swept everything, starting with the pole, capturing both stages, and ultimately finishing with his first win of the season.
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It was a dominant performance all the way around, his third win of the season.
However, since that great day in Kansas, Larson hasn’t been as sharp. In the 18 races since, he has failed to win again and managed just three top-five and five other top-10 finishes, including Sunday’s seventh-place showing in the opening race of the Round of 12 NASCAR Cup playoffs at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
So, does Larson think lightning can strike again for him at Kansas next Sunday?
“I don’t know,” the Hendrick Motorsport driver said after Sunday’s race. “I mean, I would love to think we can. But everybody’s kind of gotten their stuff better throughout the year, so you just never know when you go there.
“All we can do is try to execute like we did this spring. It’s been a long time since I’ve been that dominant. So we’d love to go back there and do that again, but this series is so tough.”
Larson’s performance Sunday at Loudon was his best finish since the regular season finale at Daytona, when he finished sixth. But in the first round of the playoffs, Larson struggled, with finishes of 19th at Darlington, 12th at Gateway, and a disappointing 32nd at Bristol.
Will a Strong Run at Loudon Carry Over To Kansas?
Larson hopes that his showing Sunday at Loudon — although he admits he would have liked to finish higher, ideally in the top five — signals better times ahead.
“I think honestly the race went better than I expected it to, starting 16th,” the 2021 NASCAR Cup Champion continued. “We were able to pass a lot of cars there in the first stage. I would say the first half of the race, I actually felt really, really good.
“And then as the track kind of lost grip and I started kind of sliding the fronts more to the center and then also sliding the rears on exit, I just kind of lost a step of competitiveness. But all in all, I’m really, really happy with the day, to gain a decent amount on the cut line [he leaves Loudon third in the standings, a solid 41 points above the preliminary Round of 8 cutoff line]..
“Obviously, you’d want to finish a little bit better, but it’s our best run of the playoffs so far. So I’m happy about that and look forward to Kansas. … We’re digging and I feel close.”
