In Sunday’s Home race at Texas Motor Speedway and in front of teammates from Hendrick Volkswagen Frisco and Honda Cars of McKinney, Kyle Larson started the 500-mile event from the ninth position and moved up to seventh before the race’s first caution waved on lap 39. Crew chief Cliff Daniels called for a four-tire stop during the caution period, and Larson was quickly up to fifth following the lap-44 restart. When another caution waved at lap 77, the Elk Grove, California, native was scored fourth. On the ensuing restart, the driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 maneuvered around the frontrunners to take the lead on lap 89. Following a caution flag on lap 97, Larson was able to hold off all challenges on the restart to secure the victory in stage one on lap 105.
Larson visited pit road during the stage break for a four-tire stop but restarted 24th behind drivers that had stopped prior to the stage break. He quickly moved up the scoring pylon after the restart on lap 111, securing a top-15 spot by lap 117 and a top-10 running position by lap 127. When a caution waved on lap 167, Larson was up to fourth. During the caution period, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion stopped for fuel and right-side tires but was forced to make a second stop to ensure the right-front wheel was secure. After taking on left-side tires during the additional stop, he restarted 29th on lap 177 and maneuvered up to 13th before stage two ended on lap 210.
Following the stage, the race was red-flagged due to inclement weather in the area. When the race restarted, Larson fell to 17th due to a lack of grip on the cooler racing surface. But through pit strategy and a fast No. 5 HendrickCars.com entry, he was able to make his way up to fifth before a caution waved on lap 267. But another issue during the four-tire stop dropped Larson down to 22nd with just over 50 laps to go. Larson again drove up through the field, breaking into the top 10 with 34 laps remaining. The 30-year-old driver was battling for a top-five position with 11 laps to go when he became extremely loose in turns 3 and 4 and chased the car up the track. He was able to keep his No. 5 Chevrolet off the wall but fell to ninth where he ultimately finished the 334-lap race.
QUOTING KYLE LARSON:
“We were able to overcome all the spots that we lost on pit road, and I feel like I drove from the back to the top- five or six almost every run.
“We had a really good car and I’m proud of the effort there at the shop and the piece that we brought here to Texas. It’s good that we are above the cutline. We could have potentially won the race. We had the best car and the weather delay hurt for sure. We had the best car on the track when it was hot and when it got cooler, I got loose and everybody seemed to get faster. So, it was just harder to pass.”
NEXT RACE:
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet head to the high banks of Talladega Superspeedway. The second race in the Round of 12 takes place Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on NBC.
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