BRISTOL, Tenn.— With Kyle Larson’s ability to drive anything anywhere, it’s no surprise that the 2021 NASCAR Cup championship left Bristol Motor Speedway with his fourth consecutive top-five finish at the track.
Still, Larson’s fifth-place result was not a slam dunk after the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team was penalized on Lap 373 for equipment interference and the driver had to fight his way from the tail end of the field.
His ability to recover over the final 120 laps from 28th for his second top five of the season even surprised Larson.
“I think it was all accidental,” Larson said with a laugh. “I don’t really know what happened. The penalty–and then I had to start the back. I abused my right front to cords. We were one of the first to pit there, and I guess the way it all cycled out, I cycled out towards the front.
“So, yeah, a bit confusing on how that all played out and happened, but happy we were able to make it live there at the end.”
From the early laps of the race, it was clear tires would play a significant role in the Food City 500. With tire management, Larson appeared to be a contender in the early stages. He started 10th and finished second to Ty Gibbs at the end of the first stage on Lap 125. Larson gained the lead the first time under caution on Lap 132 following pit stops. But Gibbs quickly regained the point in the second stage.
Gibbs took four tires during the sixth caution and lined up 11th with 10 laps remaining in Stage 2. He held on for the green-checker. Larson finished eighth and restarted 10th for the final segment of the race.
With skill, Larson remained in the top five through the long green runs until the ninth and final caution. The team’s penalty on Lap 373 mired the No. 5 Chevy in 28th-place.
“I think if you could be in the top six or so you could manage,” Larson said. “But if you were further back than that you’re trying to gain track position and it’s easy to abuse your stuff, which is what I did when I went to the back. I made good headway and just running up in that middle groove it just wore my right front out and then I rode around for probably 8 or 10 laps just with nothing on my right front, and then we finally pitted.”
The challenge of overcoming the pit road error became his mission. But with 60 laps to go, Larson went into struggle mode and desperately needed tires.
“There wasn’t a plan,” Larson said. “I was dying. I was like five seconds off the pace probably and (Cliff Daniels, crew chief) was like, ‘Oh, just pit.” And it all just worked out.
“I don’t think it was drawn up or anything. I just kind of got lucky there. Took advantage of unfortunate circumstances.”
With 47 laps remaining in the contest, race winner Denny Hamlin cycled back to the point with Larson riding fourth. While the lead would change hands twice more—with Martin Truex Jr., and Hamlin swapping positions on Laps 483 and 484 for a record 54th time at Bristol—Hamlin kept control and Larson salvaged a fifth-place result.
Still, despite all the unique and strange racing experiences Larson has endured in his 12 years of Cup competition he’s never had a race like Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“No, no, that was weird,” Larson said. “It wasn’t fun to ride around like that. You never really knew how to manage your stuff. Then there at the end, when we were all dying and whatnot, and everybody’s afraid to pit because you just didn’t want to get caught on pit road with somebody spinning out and then your laps down.
“But for whatever reason, it all cycled through. We all had to make a green flag stop and just kind of nursed it home from there. So yeah, that was odd. It was odd that rubber wouldn’t lay down and all that so it was just weird.
“It all just kind of weirdly worked out. I still don’t really know how we ended fifth, but we will take it and move on.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
