Kyle Larson Doesn't Regret Homestead Move; Will Remain Aggressive
Despite a frustrating afternoon, which was derailed by a flat tire early in last Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team continued to claw their way back into contention throughout the 267-lap race. Miraculously, in the closing laps, Larson found himself in the runner-up position and he was chasing down Ryan Blaney for a potential Championship 4 berth-clinching win.
Then, with 13 laps to go, Larson, one of the most skilled drivers in the world but also one of the most aggressive, saw an opportunity. He decided to try to take it. As Blaney was attempting to navigate around the lapped car of Austin Dillon in Turn 3, Larson saw a hole between the two cars and decided to fire his car in there.
The No. 5 car was visibly faster than both cars, but unfortunately, Larson ran out of space, collided with Blaney's car and went spinning out in Turn 4.
KYLE LARSON SPINS RACING RYAN BLANEY FOR THE LEAD!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) October 27, 2024
A restart with under 10 laps left on NBC coming up! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/VNyTXMRUci
What looked to be a potential win, or at least a salvaged top-five after a rough day, ended with a disappointing 13th-place result. With the 13th-place run, and excellent performances by all of his competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Larson heads into this weekend's Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway seven points below the Playoff cutline.
RELATED: NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings After Homestead
In a media teleconference on Tuesday, Larson said that while it's unfortunate he spun trying to make a move to win the race, that he's simply proud of himself and his raceteam for being in that position with how rough their afternoon was at Homestead.
"I mean sure I'm bummed that I went for a gap, spun, and lost my shot to win. It's happened to me a number of times in my career. But at the same point, I'm proud of myself, because I stayed mentally in it to that point to put myself in a position to win," Larson explained. "I'm not sure if there's many other drivers that could have done it. So, I'm happy that I was able to do that."
Fans, media, and even Larson himself have looked back at the spin with 13 laps to go, and have questioned why the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion didn't bide his time and wait a couple of laps for a less risky situation to try to pass Blaney for the lead.
But after giving the move much thought since Sunday, Larson still feels he made the right move simply because you just never know if you're going to have another shot at passing the leader with the way the aerodynamics play out in the Next Gen car.
"Sure, I would have liked for that move to work, but I think it's really easy to look back and fans, or even myself look back and say, 'Well, you should have just waited, you should have waited a lap or two.' Like, that sounds so easy, but these cars are so difficult to drive in traffic, and it's really hard to get within five car lengths of somebody once you're deep into a run, and all of that, and running near the wall," Larson said.
Larson says he can live with being aggressive, going for a win, and it not paying off, over sitting on his hands, and waiting for an opportunity that never comes.
"So, that's as close as I had gotten [to Blaney], and I think you have to try to take advantage of those moments. Obviously, now looking back, and with it all not working out, sure I would like to play things a little differently, and maybe I do have another opportunity. But if not, I don't know if I could live with myself. At the same point, [if] I was too patient and thought that I would have time, and I didn't have time," Larson stated. "So, it's just racing. My aggression is good a lot of times, and it maybe gets me in trouble sometimes."
The 32-year-old vows to remain aggressive going forward in his racing career.
"Yeah, I think I have [stayed aggressive] my whole career [which] is why I still get the other half of that that says I suck, and that I'm terrible and all of that," Larson chuckled. "But I think I'm always going to be that driver. I think just growing up driving Sprint Cars, and constantly pushing every lap, I think that's a big asset to me. And yeah, sometimes it bites me, but I would say more times than not, I'm in contention to win because of that aggression."
While Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team lives and dies with Larson's aggressive on-track moves on a weekly basis, the driver says that his team has always had his back whether his moves pan out or not, and they were there to support him after Sunday's
"My team supports my style, and all of that. And they were still really proud of me, and the drive we put on Sunday," Larson said. "So, yeah, just hopefully it works out differently next time."
Last week didn't go to plan, but the driver who has been the favorite to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship has one last chance to work himself back inside of the Playoff cutline this weekend at Martinsville Speedway, a track where he once struggled mightily at. Larson heads into Sunday's Xfinity 500 cautiously optimistic due to a four-race top-10 finishing streak at the track.
"I have a lot more confidence than I would have had there five years ago," Larson laughed about the 0.526-mile short track in Virginia. "Being this close to the cutoff, I feel like since joining Hendrick, it's actually been one of my better tracks. Maybe not from points scored, but finish-wise, we've won, we've finished second a couple of times, maybe, finished in the top five maybe one or two other times. So, yeah, I have confidence going there."
The only apprehension that Larson, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series with six wins this season, feels going into the race is that he's never dominant driver in any race at Martinsville like just about every other Playoff contender, who will look to lock themselves into the Championship 4 this weekend, have had there in the past.
"I just haven't had like dominating speed there, and I think my car is still much better than I am there. Where guys like Denny [Hamlin], [Ryan] Blaney lately, Chase [Elliott], and William [Byron], you know they've had dominating speed. And those are all of the guys that I'm going up against," Larson said. "I think we'll have a good car, a great car, and we'll have a good shot, but it's just a tough place. And it's not a place that's ever really been comfortable for me, even with the success that we've had. It's a tough, really tough track for me."
While it's not his best track, Larson, like the other six drivers still vying for a Championship 4 berth, does have a win at the half-mile paperclip. And Larson, as has been noted, has increased his performance at Martinsville Speedway in recent years. Since moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Larson has an average finish of 7.0 at the track, which is 9.7 positions better than his career average finish (16.7) at Martinsville.
So, he may not consider himself a Martinsville master, but his recent string of great runs at the track suggests he'll be able to go toe-to-toe with his fellow Playoff contenders this weekend. And if he does come up short of the Championship 4, Larson is at peace with it all. At the end of the day, he feels his team has overcome a lot of adversity despite starting the Playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
"I look forward to the challenge. It'll be fun to see what we can do," Larson said. "It's a tough track, but yeah, it'll be nice if we can make it, but if not, we've still had a great year. And like I said, we've had to overcome a lot, and I'm proud to still be in the position we're in."
Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.