Kyle Larson’s Hard-Wearing Day in Nashville Was One of His ‘Happiest’ Finishes, Especially After Indy 500-Coke 600 Letdown

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson had predicted that he would have a long and hard-fought day at the Nashville Superspeedway after qualifying in 28th place. It ended up being true with his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro struggling to find balance throughout stage one. Crew chief Cliff Daniels worked on the car all night, and they were ultimately able to salvage an eighth-place finish.

Getting to that point wasn’t easy by any means. Larson told the press in the aftermath, “This place is so hard to pass and everybody runs the same speed. You’re mired in 28th and it feels worse than it actually is.” The team had to make a huge adjustment during a caution that required pitting twice to make the car drivable.

The wedge, the trackbar, and the front suspension were all worked on to aid Larson. He made use of the changes and juiced the maximum out of his car. He added to reporter Alan Cavanna, “It’s weird. One of the happiest 8th places, but God, you just hate to run 8th. Just fighting through the difficult starting spot.”

He mentioned how Nashville is one of his worst tracks and that every race on it goes by the same format. He starts badly and goes forward with the help of neat executions. The driver was fortunately able to avoid some wrecks that could have ended his day prematurely. At the end of it all, he was just glad that he didn’t have to come to Nashville again this season.

What Larson said ahead of the Cup Series race at Nashville

Larson arrived at Nashville, hoping to rebound from the double heartbreak he suffered during Memorial Day Weekend. He crashed out of both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 and saw his second attempt at completing ‘The Double’ go up in flames. A good result at the Music City was the only medicine that could take the pain away.

But Larson‘s chances appeared slim after he was only 24th in practice. He followed that with an even worse qualifying effort, placing 28th in the 39-car field. Despite the underwhelming start, he tried remaining optimistic. He said, “I know our car is much better than the 28th. We’ve got time to get to the front. I think you need to be patiently aggressive.

“I think you need to take advantage of holes and opportunities, but you also can’t create your own holes too much and risk getting in a crash or something that will set you back. We’ll see. It should be a long, hard-fought day.” 

It was indeed such a day — and for now, nothing will taste sweeter than this hard-earned eighth-place finish.