6 days agoKyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports will start third for Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Larson has a top-5 starting position at Bristol for the eighth time in his Cup Series career. In 17 races at the Tennessee short track, Larson has two wins, 12 top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 11.0. Through eight races so far this season, Larson has one win and five top-10 finishes with an average finish of 13.8. In practice, Larson was fastest in the overall, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 consecutive lap average categories. With top-notch practice speeds, a high starting position that makes him a favorite to lead laps early, and great equipment, Larson is expected to compete for the win and is a core DFS option this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
2 weeks agoKyle Larson had a race to forget at Darlington on Sunday. His race finished nearly before it started, as an unforced error caused him to crash into the inside retaining wall on Lap 4. Although he spent over half the race in the garage, he did return to the track. Shortly after Ryan Blaney passed Tyler Reddick with three laps to go in regulation, Reddick hit the wall and Larson checked up while running behind him, which caused Bubba Wallace to spin him out and led to the chaotic pit-stop reshuffle under caution that ultimately decided the race. After the second crash, Larson did not return to the track and finished next to last in 37th, which caused him to drop from second to sixth in points, losing 55 points to his teammate and points leader William Byron. Nonetheless, this hardly matters, since he's almost certainly locked into the playoffs after his win at Homestead.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoKyle Larson is one of the best racers in the Cup Series garage, especially at tracks like Darlington Raceway, where the speed of the car gets put into the driver's hands a little bit more. Another important component of success at Darlington is the speed of a driver's pit crew, and Larson will have some new faces jumping over the wall on Sunday. His crew chief, Cliff Daniels, believes that this new lineup will potentially put the No. 5 team over the top--but they may not need it. Larson put down some of the best lap times during practice for this weekend's Goodyear 400, ranking fourth-best in both 25- and 30-lap average. He wasn't able to back that speed up in qualifying, though, and the No. 5 Chevrolet will start from back in 19th-place on Sunday. For DFS players, though, that is music to their ears, as Larson now has Place Differential upside as well as race-winning potential. Even though he's the highest-priced driver on the slate (at $10,500 on DraftKings), Larson is a strong daily fantasy option in all formats this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NBC Sports
3 weeks agoHendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson ended Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway in fifth position. Larson began Sunday's race from the fourth position and quietly ran in the top five all throughout the first stage. Larson would get shuffled back a bit by the end of stage one and fell just short of acquiring stage points as he placed 11th. In the second stage, Larson made use of effective pit strategies to maintain a top-10 running position, placing ninth at the end of the stage despite running inside the top five at times. In the final stage, Larson quietly remained in the top 10, and despite some clashes on track with Ross Chastain, he kept up with the top five until the finish. Larson ended this week's race with his sixth consecutive top 10 finish and his fifth top 5 result in the last six Cup Martinsville events.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
RADIO
