FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Larson’s climb from the rear of the field in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 ended abruptly after a hard crash in Stage 2 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Larson running comfortably inside the top-10 cut down a tire driving into Turn 2, sending the No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet hard into the outside wall on Lap 126.
“I’m OK, thankfully,” said Larson. “Thanks to NASCAR and their safety because that was a huge hit,” Larson said. “Just hate that I blew a right-front (tire) there. I was pretty tight but didn’t really expect to blow a right-front.”
Larson was slated to start 10th on Sunday, but after his Chip Ganassi Racing team failed pre-race inspection three times, NASCAR penalized the team by putting them to the rear of the field for the start of the 334-lap race. Additionally, Larson lost his car chief who was ejected for the infraction.
Quickly though, Larson rocketed from the back to the front – finding himself inside the top-five by the end of Stage 1.
“Just needed to get by Joey (Logano) there and I felt like I was one of the faster cars out there,” Larson added. “So, felt like we could have had a shot at the end of the race, but it was cut short.”
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