These days, Hendrick Motorsports almost expects a race victory no matter which track the NASCAR Cup Series goes to. Their star driver, Kyle Larson, has been on a tear so far this year and at Iowa, the #5 seemed like the fastest car on track. But that was until an unfortunate crash in stage 3 which ruined his chances of challenging for the checkered flag.
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Larson was in the midst of several cars when Daniel Suarez on his inside got loose and in an attempt to control the #99, slammed into the right rear of the #5. This contact was too much for the 2021 Cup Series champion to handle in that situation and he spun around and hit the wall, collecting the #11 of Denny Hamlin in the process.
BIG TROUBLE FOR KYLE LARSON.
📺 : USA Network | #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/ptwp3jo9vB
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) June 17, 2024
“I haven’t seen a replay yet, but I guess I could’ve just not gone to the middle and been more patient, knowing how fast my car was and who I was around. I wanted to get as many cars as I could in the beginning of that little run, and yeah, probably just ended up biting me,” the driver of the #5 car said as per Frontstretch.
However, it was not all bad for HMS as their other drivers made sure that the team ended the race weekend on a positive note. Among them, William Byron was the most impressive.
The driver of the #24 car finished P2 behind Ryan Blaney. Byron had taken four new tires on the final caution unlike the reigning Cup Series champion and several people believed that he would have caught up to the Team Penske star. That did not come to fruition in the end but Byron was able to hold on to a runner-up finish regardless.
“Feel like I was making marginal gains through (Turns) 1 and 2. My tires were getting hot down there and I would start sliding the rears around a little bit on entry. Proud of this team. We need to put together some consistent runs. This is a good start. Would love to be winning tonight, but Ryan and those guys were really good,” he said as per Motorsport.
It was a good day for Chase Elliott as well who continued his fantastic run of 17 consecutive finishes in the top 20 in the Cup Series after finishing P4. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman was impressive as well, finishing P8 after starting P33.
