3.25
That’s Kyle Larson’s average finishing position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series over the last four races.
Not bad.
But, for the raving Sprint Cup Series rookie, he can only wonder “what if”, as his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team isn’t competing in the 2014 edition of the Chase, but the former NASCAR Next member wishes he did.
Larson finished second in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, his second runner-up performance in the last two races, and third podium finish in four races. If not for a couple of rogue finishes late in the summer stretch, the horizon might be completely different right now.
“We were good all weekend long,” said Larson. “The first run we started off pretty loose because we were deep in the pack but once it all spread apart we were able to pass some cars and get up into the top seven, I think, before the first caution. There was some crazy restarts near the beginning. We almost got collected in a couple of them, I guess, and missed those and was able to keep working on our car and got it better and better. Surprised the groove moved up as high as it did. That was a lot of fun for me. I think it helped me go as good as I did because I’m not much of a bottom feeder.”
While Larson made the charge in the closing laps, the Elk Grove, California native was hoping that Logano would make a mistake. The opportunity to pounce though never came and the 22-year old had to settle for his 15th top-10 finish of the year.
“It was a good race. I thought me and Joey were dead even there at the end. It was hard for me to gain on him. We would go within a hundredth of each other it seemed like on every lap. I was able to close on him at one point, but just couldn’t do anything. The bottom was a lot slower than the top, so I had to kind of follow him and hope he made a mistake. He almost made one mistake there with seven to go and then he got back into rhythm. Good finish. We’ll get some wins here soon hopefully before the end of the year, and I think once we get one, we should be up here more often as a winner.”
Despite battling for a championship, Kyle Busch doesn’t mind a guy like Larson mixing it up for the win. After all, they deserve to be there, right?
“I think Larson is a great addition to the Sprint Cup Series,” offered Busch. “I think he’s got a lot of talent. We knew that coming up. We knew it wasn’t going to be a long road before he got here. That’s why he’s in the seat he’s in. The kid has done a good job. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s fun to race around. He’s a hard racer, too.
“He sometimes don’t give you a whole lotta room, but when he knows to give you room, he gives you room too. It’s been fun to see him learn this year. I mean, I’d like to see him finishing behind us a little more often, but he has already this year. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with in the future.”
And while Larson can’t be crowned champion in his first full season of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition, the former product of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program can try and spoil the party, as it’s only a matter of time before the driver of the No. 42 Target Chevrolet SS arrives in Victory Lane.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
