KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Round of 12 wasn’t particularly kind for Kyle Larson and his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team, however, the No. 42 team’s last-ditch effort in Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway nearly paid off.
The weekend started off on a sour note after Larson crashed his primary No. 42 McDonald’s Trick. Treat. Win. Chevrolet during first practice on Friday afternoon. Qualifying and practice on Saturday didn’t fare much better, but in typical Chad Johnston fashion, he threw everything at his team and left the rest up to his driver for the 267-lap race.
Starting at the rear of the field for going to a backup car, Larson didn’t stay there for long and quickly had bolted inside the top-20 less than 50 laps into the race.
As the progressed, Larson moved forward, thanks in large part to his classic high-line style which allowed for grip and faster speeds.
By the end of Stage 2 and through green flag pit stops, Larson had moved to sixth and earned five stage points to add to his deficit.
Throughout Stage 3, Larson remained a factor and even nestled his way into the headlines in the closing laps, but a loose race car kept him from spoiling the party of Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch, finishing third and earning his first top-five since finishing second in the Playoff opener at Las Vegas in September.
“Yeah, it was a good race for us,” Larson said. “We were really loose. We kept tightening it up until we got to a good spot, where I could run the wall comfortably. Once I was able to move up, have some sort of security up top, I was better.
“But still short runs, halfway through the run, it would finally tighten up, and I could go better. But (the) track was so fast. Even the runs where I felt like I was good, can’t make up any time. Everybody’s quick. When you’re faster, somebody gets stuck. I think the cool conditions just made it kind of tough to pass today.”
As for his rally from the back, Larson said it was about being patient. But, as he inched closer to the leaders, passing them became difficult. Strong restarts and green flag pit stops aided to the team’s efforts.
“Coming from the back like that, able to be aggressive, get to 15th or so pretty quickly. Then you’re starting to get to the faster cars that are hard to pass.
“I was able to get a couple good restarts that helped us out, a couple decent green-flag pit cycles, too, that helped us out. I don’t know. It’s not like it’s a short race, we have to be crazy aggressive.”
Since Las Vegas, Larson had been somewhat critical of his CGR team, including a post-race rant at Talladega Superspeedway where the five-time Cup winner felt the organization wasn’t putting enough detail into their restrictor plate program since he joined the team.
On Sunday, it seemed like the No. 42 team of old. And even though they won’t contend for the championship, Larson didn’t know how to feel about missing the Round of 8.
Larson won’t go away quietly, and he’s determined to get into Victory Lane before the end of the year. More importantly though, get ahead for the 2019 season which will include a new rules package for the Cup Series.
Yeah, I don’t know,” offered Larson on his emotions. “I’m actually glad that nothing stupid took us out of the Playoffs this year. We had that battery come out at Dover a couple years ago. Blew up an engine here last year.
“I mean, obviously I would have liked to have made it into the next round. But I’m glad it wasn’t anything other than just us not performing where we needed to be that kept us out of the next round.
“Just trying to figure out how to make our cars better. Try to figure out this new package we’re running next year, try to be prepared, good all season long.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
