NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year candidate Kyle Larson appeared to have the car to beat in the final stages of the MyAFIBSTORY.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, but two late race cautions spoiled his efforts, resulting in a third place finish Sunday afternoon.
“I had a really good Target Chevy. Man, for a back-up car, that was amazing,” said Larson. “It really shows how tough our team is and how hard they work at the shop preparing primary cars and back-up cars. I just hate it that we came up short. But I’m happy about the speed we had in our car. It was hauling butt. It was really good.
“Knew from the drop of the green we’d be pretty good. Once the line got around the wall where I like to run a lot, we were really fast. Had a blast the whole race. I was really good on long runs. Stinks we got third Coming up close as often as I have this year is going to make that first win feel that much more special.”
Larson’s first Sprint Cup Series trip the “Windy City” came with adversity. During practice on Saturday morning, Larson lost his primary No. 42 Target Chevrolet Camaro after making contact with the Turn 2 wall.
The Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team rolled out the backup in time for final practice and immediately showed speed. The pace continued on Sunday, during the first round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
After starting shotgun on the field, Larson roared his Chevrolet through the field and found himself in contention for the lead during green flag pit stops on Lap 228. A few laps later, the fourth caution flag of the day waved, which saw Larson back at the controls.
On the restart, the former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion was able to check-out from the rest of the field and lead, until the fifth caution flag flew for Clint Bowyer in Turn 2.
When racing resumed, Larson found himself in a dramatic battle with the No. 4 of Kevin Harvick, where the two thought that they were battling it out for the win, but bad Brad Keselowski with a head of steam came rolling into the picture, where he surprised both drivers by taking the middle lane and clearing both cars to assert himself into the lead and eventually his fifth win of the 2014 season.
Larson had one final attempt to steal the thunder from the Chase hopefuls on that Lap 262 restart and while he battled briefly with Keselowski into Turn 1 for the trophy, Keselowski with momentum extended himself ahead of the field, while Larson found himself now battling Jeff Gordon for the runner-up spot.
The two raced hard, but clean over the remaining laps, with Gordon holding the edge when the checkered flag threw, but the performance earned Larson his sixth top-five finish of the year and best effort since Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International last month. His effort in the 27th race of the season also earned him praises from some of the sport’s top-kin.
One concern though for the Elk Grove, California native on the final restart was the brief trail of smoke that trailed from the fender of Larson’s No. 42 entry in the waning laps. The two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series winner chalked up the cause of the smoke from contact with Keselowski under the final yellow.
“That was tire smoke,” Larson mentioned. “I was lined up outside of Brad. We were both scrubbing our tires in. Then he decided to make some big swerves and hit me right in the left rear, damaged our left rear fender. Luckily we made it to the checkered flag. I didn’t think we would. I could barely see it with all the smoke in the cockpit.
“I figured we were going to go into three and blow a left rear tire and end our race. Luckily made it to the end. I guess after we made it through three and four the smoke kind of went away. I’m not quite sure what Brad was doing under to caution. I don’t know.”
Seeded outside the Chase, Larson leaves Chicagoland 17th in the overall standings with a 28-point advantage over Clint Bowyer entering New Hampshire Motor Speedway next weekend.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
