KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson saw his stellar springtime stretch take its first true turn for the negative on Friday at Kansas Speedway, after a crash in final practice sent him to a backup car ahead of the Go Bowling 400.
Barely five minutes into the 85-minute session, Larson got into the outside wall in turn two before going for a long sideways slide down the backstretch.
Larson got his car down to the apron and righted about halfway down the straightaway, driving back to the garage with significant right side damage and later saying that he felt like he “was going to crash” for most of the afternoon.
“I felt like I was going to crash every lap since we unloaded today,” the Elk Grove, California native said. “We only made like seven laps the first practice because I was spinning out every time. They made some big adjustments there between practices, but I actually thought my (Turns) 1 and 2 was better because as I run … (Turns) 3 and 4 have been my worst corners.”
“I just tried to open my entry up a little bit in (Turn) 1 and it stepped out on me. I felt (the movement) before I ever got to the corner, and I didn’t have really time to chase it. I feel bad that I wrecked a primary car. Our back-up should be just as good, if not better than our primary. We’ve just been really, really edgy for some reason this weekend.”
Despite the incident, Larson rallied to finish the final practice second in the backup car, saying that his mentality shifted slightly knowing that it was the last car they had in the hauler.
“Our goal has been to try not to crash anymore today,” he added. “I didn’t have much practice time left by the time we got this (backup) ready. … I’m disappointed that I got into the wall, but I was definitely on edge all day so far.”
Larson added that he felt many of his on-track rivals were fighting a similar loose condition to the one that he was.
“I’ve been extremely loose all day. I think a lot of people have,” he said. “I don’t know why we are all fighting loose, but we made some big adjustments between the two practices there and I was still really loose. … When I wrecked … I just got really loose before I ever even really got to the corner. I had to chase it up, like I said, and smacked the wall pretty hard. So, yeah, we’re in a back-up car now … but our back-up car is pretty good.”
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
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