There is no doubt about Kyle Larson‘s racing prowess, given his already proven pedigree and record across surfaces. However, there are certain times when your own racing style can come back to bite you back. Recently, while racing at the Texas Motor Speedway playoffs race, Larson found out the hard way after the aero wash from Bubba Wallace’s car made him spin and wreck out.
Advertisement
During a recent interaction, former NASCAR driver and the 1999 Winston Cup champion, Dale Jarret, shared his opinion on Larson’s racing style that ended up costing him the race at Texas.
Dale Jarrett explains how Kyle Larson’s style caused him problems at Texas
While speaking on the NASCAR on NBC Podcast, Jarrett explained, “The one thing that I noticed and I watched it back a couple of times to make sure that wasn’t seeing stuff. But I actually saw this happen like a lap before Larson actually spun was, he still even racing side by side with Bubba. He wanted to make his arc into especially turn one as much as he could. Because that’s the way he drives.”
“That’s why how you get speed out of this car. His car turns to center and he’s able to power up soon and drive straighter on the exit off the corner and just make a lot of speed there. Your problem is this you set yourself up with that if you lose any air at all, especially to the right rear quarter panel. And he was actually putting himself closer to Bubba than what Bubba was actually trying to hang on to his quarter panel…”
“…So shocking to say the least. Now, here’s a driver that looked like he was going to easily put himself through to the round of eight and he’s going to have to battle now.” Jarrett further found it shocking since it would have been Larson’s fourth straight high-performance race in the playoffs. Despite not being able to finish, Jarrett acknowledged that the HMS driver had performed well enough throughout the race.
Late race spin ruined Kyle Larson’s race at Texas Motor Speedway
Heading into the final 20 laps of the race, Larson had the chance of winning the race over Bubba Wallace since he appeared to be faster at the moment. However, after a wheel-to-wheel battle against the 23XI Racing driver, Larson suffered a spin that rendered him out of race-winning contention altogether. It’s not that the pair had collided or anything, rather it was just how the aero wash worked when driving in such close proximity to one another through the corner.
Following the race, Larson had the chance to speak with the media where he mentioned, “I don’t think it is the byproduct of the car. I think if I could just replay it again, I would just give more space into 1 (turn) and race it out off of 2 (turn), and eventually the bottom would have won out.
Later on, Larson admitted that he had been trying to get the move down quickly, but it would have been wise for him to wait another corner to make the move. Following the wreck, Larson ended the race in 31st place after falling under the damaged vehicle policy.
