RICHMOND, Va. – Life is good for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson.
Not only did the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates driver win his first Sprint Cup race three races ago at Michigan International Speedway, but the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet backed up his third-place finish last Sunday night at Darlington Raceway with a runner-up finish in Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.
“It felt like a video game on rookie mode, having fresh tires like that,” said Larson after the race. “That was fun. Our Target car was probably an eighth to tenth car most of the race. I was really good on short runs. I could pass a few cars every restart which really helped us. It seemed like we could never get the race going there at the end of the race, which helped us.”
Of course, Larson can thank a caution with two laps to go in Saturday’s race for allowing him to come to pit road and bolt on four new Goodyear tires. Like a superman, Larson burst through the competition on older tires passing Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski in attempt to catch race leader Denny Hamlin.
“Fun, fun last restart, get all the way to second. I thought I could get to fourth, but second was a little bit better, so that was great. I had a blast there during the last couple laps.”
And even though he ran out of laps to secure his second win of the season, Larson in fact, is one of the hottest drivers on the tour entering his first Chase for the Sprint with an average finish of second in the last three races.
That’s good news for the No. 42 Target team heading to the Windy City for next Sunday afternoon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400.
“Yeah, you know, the Chase tracks, most of them are good tracks for me, so starting off in Chicago, that’s one of my favorite tracks to go to,” sounded Larson. “I really think we can go there and have a strong run. The way we’ve been rolling lately, hopefully, we can get another top three. I think this is our third week in a row of top threes. It’s been awesome.”
The Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing are clearly the overall favorites to contend for the championship, but the recent swing in performance from Chip Ganassi’s operation certainly could spell trouble for some of NASCAR’s most powerhouse teams if Larson and teammate Jamie McMurray are able to capitalize on the momentum and advance from each round.
In 2014, Larson finished inside the top-10 through the first fives races of the Chase. Next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, Larson and crew chief Chad Johnston are hoping to launch their Chase effort with similar results.
“Looking forward to it,” added Larson. “First time in the Chase. There’s a lot of new guys in the Chase, so should be pretty exciting.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
