Kyle Larson’s Giant Thumbs Up to NASCAR Despite Major Doubts Around Atlanta

When NASCAR announced the schedule for the 2024 Cup season, a lot of drivers, fans, and industry insiders wondered if putting Atlanta, a semi-superspeedway-esque racetrack right after the Daytona 500, made any sense. In fact, a lot of criticism came NASCAR’s way for this decision. But now that the Atlanta race is behind, a race that produced a finish for the ages, that gamble from NASCAR, the decision makes more sense. And just like the viewers and the fans, drivers had fun too.

Consider the testimony of Kyle Larson, who, despite making a midway exit from the race, seemed pumped with the level of racing and the racing product he had seen until then from his seat. “It actually was a lot of fun. I wouldn’t want to do that every week, but it was much more fun than last week,” he described.

“I don’t know if there’s ever a lap where you weren’t thinking about moves or block moves or whatever. You’re just trying to stay in line, the cars weren’t driving very good, so I was enjoying it.”

Larson claimed that “a lot went on” before his crash in the second stage as he further elaborated, “I don’t know how it’s coming across on TV but from the driver seat, it’s just wild.”

But did Kyle Larson have so much fun in Atlanta, that it overshadowed the 66th edition of the Great American Race from a week before?

Kyle Larson had more fun in Atlanta than at Daytona

When Kyle Larson was confronted with the comments of Brad Keselowski about Atlanta being more intense than Daytona, the Hendrick star promptly replied, “Heck yeah. It seemed super intense from my seat.” Larson once emphasized that he had “a lot of fun” during his short stint in the race, and for good reason, especially compared to Daytona.

“That was super intense,” Larson said of racing in Atlanta. “And it’s been a great race from the start to where we’re at now. Opposite to last week, no fuel savings and guys going at it, so it’s been fun.”

OFFICIAL: The margin of victory was 0.003 seconds.

That is the third-closest finish in NASCAR Cup Series history. pic.twitter.com/u8EosDiXVX

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 26, 2024

Surely, the race in Atlanta was one of the best races in recent memory considering Kyle Larson’s words. But his words were of a driver who didn’t even finish the race. The drivers who were there until the end, especially the three from the photo finish, couldn’t stop raving about the spectacle the Atlanta race was.

But then again, this was an opinion shared by almost everyone in and out of NASCAR.