Given all the pitfalls and peril that had come his way in an eventful 400 miles at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson didn’t have a “play it safe” mode in the waning laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race. Being overly cautious wasn’t in the playbook, and the approach nearly sealed a return trip to the Championship 4 field.
Larson finished an unlucky 13th in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400, rallying from an to contend for the victory and a title-race spot until his spin in a contest for the lead with 13 laps left. Those honors went instead to first-time Champ 4 entrant Tyler Reddick, who converted on his own bold, late-race move for a clinching victory, landing him a bid for the Cup crown in the Nov. 10 finale at Raceway.
Larson ranked seventh among the eight playoff-eligible drivers in Sunday’s finishing order; only who clinched a championship bid the previous weekend in Las Vegas, was worse off in 28th place. Larson had entered the day with a plus-35 margin relative to the provisional elimination line. He left Homestead at minus-7 heading to the Round of 8’s finale Sunday at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), with his wild points swing a direct result of his day and Reddick’s grid-shaking
Larson said he and other drivers above the elimination mark heading into Homestead — namely Christopher Bell and William Byron — likely shared the inclination to press for the victory that seemed imminent. Watching drivers who reached Homestead in elimination territory — Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott alongside himself — have productive days only increased the urgency.
“When the win’s in front of you, and you see a guy like the 12 (Blaney) who’s below the (elimination) line going to win, or the 11’s (Hamlin) in third, the 9 (Elliott) — like all the guys who are below the (elimination) line are having great days. I mean, when the win’s in front of you, I don’t think any of us — Bell, William — would have done anything different,” Larson said. “You’re going for the win to lock yourself into Yeah, I’ve been disappointed in other races a lot more than what I am right now. I’m honestly, I’m really proud of even having a shot, like there’s nobody else that would have been able to do that. So yeah, I’m proud of that. Just wish it would have turned out a little differently.”
The seven other playoff-eligible drivers ran the 400-mile distance without major issue, but trouble seemed to target Larson in the early going. Larson was the victim of Sunday’s first caution period on Lap 47 of 267 when his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet popped a tire and scraped the outside retaining wall. Larson escaped with mild damage, and his steering held straight, but the scraping car ground away at the rear diffuser, hurting the team on downforce and handling. After dropping from second place to 33rd, he ended Stage 1 in 24th place but on the lead lap.
During the stage intermission, contact between Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s No. 47 Chevy and Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Ford left Buescher’s car impeding Larson’s pit-stall entry. He lined back up 35th for Stage 2 after more work on his No. 5 Chevrolet and worked back to 15th by the segment’s end. Those stage results, however, left him without additional points, which were gobbled up by stage winners Reddick and Hamlin.
Larson climbed all the way back into the top five once the race reached what appeared to be its final green-flag run. With 13 laps remaining, Larson ran second and made a bid to pass Blaney’s leading No. 12 Ford as both worked around the lap-down No. 3 Chevy of . Larson lost control in the tight squeeze and made a long slide through Turn 3 but avoided contact with the wall or other cars. He continued on, but his chance for a victory faded.
“Just proud of myself for driving my ass off to get up there and have a shot because we shouldn’t have,” Larson said. “Then, yeah, racing for the lead there, I just couldn’t quite get close enough to Ryan, and finally got my chance to get close. I didn’t really know what to do. I was coming with a head of steam and was hoping Austin — and, yeah, he didn’t do anything wrong at all — but I was hoping he would kind of leave me the lane against the wall, but he ran his lane, and there was still a little bit of a hole, and I was going to try and shoot the gap and get clear in front of him, but just got loose as I was trying and spun. So yeah, it kind of ended our shot there.”
Larson faces not only a points deficit next weekend but also 500 laps at Martinsville Speedway, a technical short track that has produced mixed fortunes for the 32-year-old driver. Larson landed just one top five in his first 12 starts there, but his results have improved dramatically since signing on with Rick Hendrick’s team in 2021. Since then? Larson has won three pole positions in seven starts there, and he added his first Martinsville victory in the
“I mean, it’s not my best track, but it’s been a lot better for me the last years since joining Hendrick,” said Larson, who was the race runner-up and pole winner at Martinsville back in April. “So, it’ll be tough, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and hope we can go there and have a solid weekend.”
