Kyle Larson has had a decent run in the 2023 season so far, although, by his own admission, he will tell you he would have wanted to finish higher in the standings. At the moment Larson sits in the 6th position in the playoffs and if things go well, we might see a return to the 2021 results, when he won the championship.
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While recently speaking with the media, Larson detailed what would constitute a success and a disappointment for him at the end of this season.
Kyle Larson shares his personal expectations from the playoffs
While speaking ahead of the first playoff race at Darlington, Larson shared his expectations for the road ahead. He explained, “It hasn’t been that long since I won a championship. I have only gone one year without winning one. I don’t really try to think how I felt last year.”
“Last year felt quite sh*tty because I screwed up at the Roval and took myself out of it. That wasn’t fun to deal with. But at the of the year, I mean still had three wins. That’s not a bad year. This year we got three wins as well and won an All-Star race.”
The HMS driver kept a positive outlook toward the journey ahead and mentioned, “If I don’t win a championship, for sure I’m gonna be disappointed. We didn’t achieve the goal, but wasn’t a disappointment from start to finish. We won more than a lot of people did. Already at this point, we have ten races left. I’m a glass-half-full guy most of the time so I try to set realistic expectations as well.”
Larson highlights his biggest competitors for the championship
Speaking during the media day, Larson named the two drivers he looks at to be his toughest opponents on the road toward a second championship victory.
Larson mentioned, “I think you can make a case for honestly everybody on why they could potentially be the champion, but I think you can’t overlook Martin Truex (Jr) and William Byron. I think they have been the two best teams all year long. Most consistent teams too… Those two guys in my opinion are the ones you have to go through to win the championship…”
Both Byron and Truex have been on top of the leaderboards, with equal playoff points. Therefore anyone competing for the championship would definitely have to take those two teams into account.
Overall, Larson has been in pretty good form all year, considering two of his teammates managed to bury themselves this year. Hence, looking ahead into the playoffs, there could be a good chance for the 2021 champion to make the charge for the championship once more.
