Kyle Larson could have won Sunday’s playoff at Talladega and advanced to the championship round. He had the car, the crew and the perfect location for the final restart. However, Larson had to bail out using a dry fuel tank.
The day ended with a disappointing P26 for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion. William Byron, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, finished one place ahead of him after being pushed back by a Toyota-led charge. As it stands, Larson, a 32-time Cup winner, is the last driver above the cutoff line, while Byron is the first driver below the mark.
With a 36-point lead on the elimination line, Larson opted to stay positive. Once the race was over and Chase Briscoe was crowned the winner, Larson said. NBC Sports:
“It’s just a shame it didn’t work out there. He started giving me a warning in the middle of 1 and 2 and in the back he started tripping, so I got out of the way.”
“It’s probably one of the most disappointing superspeedway finishes I’ve had, just because we were in contention again, and it was exactly where I wanted to be, but it didn’t work out, so we’re going to keep putting ourselves in contention, and it will work out eventually,” he added.
Ahead of next week’s race at Martinsville Speedway, Kyle Larson appears stuck in a precarious situation. His place compared to that of Byron is better, but his chances of participating in Championship 4 are still fragile.
All four drivers sitting below the cutoff line are past winners at Martinsville. If one of them wins next week, Larson’s chances of qualifying for his third Championship 4 will only diminish.
“You have to assume that one of these guys below the cut line is going to win (at Martinsville),” Kyle Larson continued. “They’re all really good there.”
Fans will be able to see it all unfold on the Virginia short track next Sunday (October 26). The 500-lap event will be televised on Peacock (2 p.m. ET) with live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Kyle Larson’s quest for glory in 400th Cup start ends in crash at Talladega
Heading to Talladega, Kyle Larson was set to join an elite list of winners, including Lee Petty, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Dave Marcis, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. It could have been his first superspeedway victory in his 400th career NASCAR Cup Series start.
Winning the YellaWood 500 would have made Larson the seventh driver to win in his 400th Cup start. Hoping to notch his first-ever victory at the tri-oval superspeedway, Larson said (via Yahoo Sports):
“That would be pretty cool. I’d love to go to Bristol for my 400th start, but it would be very special to get my first win at a superspeedway in my 400th career start. That would be awesome. We’ll do our best tomorrow and hopefully join that Hall of Fame list.”
Unfortunately, this did not happen. Kyle Larson’s 400th start gave him a 26th-place finish, his worst performance since Bristol in September, where he finished 32nd. All eyes now are on Martinsville, where Larson has led 255 laps and amassed five top-five finishes and six top-10 finishes.
Edited by Parag Jain
