What could’ve been a playoff-altering race in the worst way possible for Kyle Larson, turned into potentially championship-saving race at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
The defending NASCAR Cup Series champion had to pit early in the Southern 500 due to an engine issue, costing the No. 5 team three laps.
Fortunately, the engine issue seemingly went away, and Larson clawed his way back to the lead lap to finish 12th.
As the Cup Series heads to Kansas Speedway this weekend, Larson and the team are still puzzled as to what created the engine issue at Darlington.
“We don’t honestly know exactly what happened or what the cause of it was, but it sounds like William (Byron) had a very similar issue that we had during the race,” Larson said. “I think he just didn’t react as quickly as maybe I did and it kind of cured itself as he was on the track.
“I don’t know, I’ve never had that happen to me ever in my career of racing anything, and I’ve probably raced more than anybody has in the field,” Larson continued. “I don’t know, it was weird, but I hope something like that doesn’t pop up ever again because it could have ended up really badly for us.”
With Larson able to avoid a disastrous start to the playoffs, the 30-year-old heads to Kansas seventh in points, 17 points to the good. Four of the 16 playoff drivers will be eliminated after the third round of the playoffs Sept. 17 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Larson finished second to Kurt Busch in the May event at the 1.5-mile Kansas track.
A big difference in the return trip to Kansas, is the knowledge the drivers and crews have accumulated with the aerodynamics of the Next Gen car.
For Larson, the spring race was a learning experience he feels he can use heading into the weekend.
“There were a couple of times when Kurt (Busch) and I were racing that where he positioned his car had an effect on me,” Larson said. “I had kind of known that up to that point, but it was very apparent that what I was feeling was a thing. Every single driver in the field has learned a lot about aero and the differences around cars compared to last season or other seasons in the past. I think each week that you go on, you put yourself in better spots because of it and not put yourself in bad situations that you have in the past.
“Going back to Kansas this week, all that stuff will be on my mind like it is every week and, hopefully, me being better prepared will keep me away from making any mistakes like I did last time.”
While Larson had speed at Kansas back in May, Toyota drivers had a leg-up on the competition. Six of the top-10 finishers drove Toyotas, including four of them in the top five.
Larson remembers the spring race at Kansas as the place his Toyota competitors began showing strength on 1.5-mile tracks.
“From what I remember, I feel like Kansas was one of the first races where they really stood out as being extremely good,” Larson said. “And I would say nothing has changed since then, if not gotten even more in their direction on the intermediate-style tracks. They’ve been super-good the majority of the season on that style of track and I don’t foresee this weekend being any different. I think all of the Toyotas will be the ones to beat and it will be up to other teams to just execute as good as they can and win that way.”
Despite the blistering pace Toyota has found at intermediate tracks, Larson believes the fight can be won by remaining clean and consistent.
“This year – after all the mess that I put myself in to almost win – we’ll just need to keep fighting all race long and we’ll have a shot to beat them,” Larson said. “I’m sure they’ll get the pole, I’m sure they’ll be in the hunt all race long. It’ll be tough, but they can be beat, for sure.”
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