7 months ago

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson suffered a setback to his playoff hopes after a miserable 26th-place finish in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400. Starting from the 11th position, Larson's day started off with promise in the first stage as he was gaining positions and running in the Top 10. However, this changed on Lap 20 when Larson blew a right rear tire and smacked the outside wall. By the end of the first stage, Larson fell off the lead lap with a wounded car and placed 35th. After multiple pit stops in the second stage, Larson rejoined the lead lap during the caution for Daniel Hemric's spin on lap 145 and then made a strategy for track position by staying out of pit road on older tires during a lap 162 restart. This resulted in Larson placing 30th at the end of stage two as the field quickly passed him on newer tires. In the final stage, Larson still struggled to gain track position, and despite running longer than most on a green flag run, he could not catch a break for a caution to come out with favorable timing. Eventually, Larson settled with an underwhelming finish of 26th, marking his worst Kansas finish since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. Although Kyle Larson is now 18 points above the playoff cut line, the Cup Series is heading to Talladega next, one of Larson's worst statistical tracks with three top-10 finishes in 19 career starts.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com