Sure, Kyle Larson winning the first race of the Round of 8 in the playoffs to book his ticket in the final 4 at Phoenix is a massive advantage for him and the #5 team. After all, they can afford to focus more on getting a championship than be worried about making the cut in the next two races. However, Larson’s win isn’t just a big boost for him.
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According to former driver and current analyst Jeff Burton, Larson winning in Vegas and booking his place in the final 4 is a massive advantage for him, his team as well as his teammate in the playoffs, William Byron, and Hendrick Motorsports in general.
Burton also pointed to the negative aspect of Larson having the advantage with his comfortable position heading into Homestead and Martinsville.
Jeff Burton claims Kyle Larson’s win could benefit William Byron
Speaking about Larson’s win and his current situation, Burton claimed it is “a major advantage,” as he described how it will help William Byron as well. “…also allows Hendrick Motorsports to put focus on the #24 car and help them do what they need to do the next two weeks to get them into the championship,” he said.
“So I think it is a massive advantage for Hendrick Motorsports not just for the #5 car but for the #24 car.”
But the analyst also claimed Larson would be going into the next two races with the intent to win considering how much it matters even though the focus would be now on winning a championship, something Larson himself described after his win.
“We’d love to go there and win the stages and win the race again. That’s our plan again for this weekend coming up,” he said of Homestead, while for Martinsville, he claimed, “We won there earlier this year but obviously I know it’s a tough track for me but we’d love to go there and have a good run.”
Now, Larson winning in Vegas, focusing on Phoenix but also wanting to win and do well in the next two races could leave him and his team in an unfamiliar spot which Jeff Burton also pointed to.
Kyle Larson and his team might be in a tricky situation despite their final 4 ticket
The only negative to Kyle Larson and the #5 team’s current situation, as per Jeff Burton, is that they might have to change their process now. “If you listen to Cliff and Kyle, they both talk about changing their process and they have a weekly process they believe in,” Burton said.
“They stick to it no matter what the situation is, so do you change that? That’s a great question. Do you do something different because it’s Phoenix?”
The driver-turned-analyst claimed he isn’t sure if a team would do something like that, but he knows that a company certainly does. Burton added that Hendrick Motorsports now has “a tremendous amount of time” to put into the #5 team for Phoenix, that they will “max out” on everything tech to get the best possible car they can.
With that said, Burton claimed that the main advantage Larson now has is that there’s no added pressure to win in the next two weeks.
