Kyle Larson: Wins may be missing but No. 42 Chevy's performance remains strong
RICHMOND, Va. – One year ago this week, Kyle Larson was riding high, leading the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings through the first two months.
Larson kicked off the 2017 season with a win and four runner-up finishes through the first eight races, announcing the Chip Ganassi Racing driver as a force to be reckoned with and a top championship contender.
While Larson has not jumped out to the same torrid pace this season, he believes his performance is in the same ballpark even if his results don’t yet reflect that.
“I feel like speed-wise, we’re close to where we were at this point last year,” the 25-year-old said Friday at Richmond Raceway. “But I feel like other teams are better than where they were at this point last year. So maybe that’s why we’re back a couple of positions in the running order throughout the race. But, yeah, I feel like we’re gotten off to a really good start with the new body.”
Larson has recorded three top-three finishes in 2018 and displayed perhaps his best performance of the season last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he led 200 laps but finished second to Kyle Busch, who won for the second consecutive week. It was a disappointing result for Larson, who was easily the fastest car on the track for long stretches but couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Busch in the final laps.
“Yeah, I was mad,” Larson admitted. “That’s as close as I’ve come to winning a Cup race at Bristol. That one stung probably more than any Cup win I can kind of think of at this point.
“I was really mad when I got back to the bus, and I texted Kyle about this, but the last thing I wanted to hear but the first thing I heard when I walked in the bus was (his son) Owen saying, ‘Oh, did you get me some Skittles,’” a reference to the sponsor on Busch’s winning No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “So, I couldn’t help but laugh at that. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear but it kind of lightened the mood, so it helps to get over it a little bit.”
Larson acknowledged that Busch and Kevin Harvick, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver who won three of the first four races this season, have been the class of the field through the first two months, though Larson gives Harvick’s Ford the edge.
“I still think the No. 4 car (Harvick) is quite a bit better. I think you can call the No. 18 second-best,” Larson said. “I think Kyle is really good at executing, which has helped him win the last couple of races and really run in the top 3 for as long as he has now. But as far as pure speed, I think the (Harvick) has everybody covered.”
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Larson has been the best of the Chevrolet contingent as its stable of drivers continue to get used to the Camaro that debuted in the Cup Series this season. And although he currently sits ninth in points, Larson believes he has the capability of matching Harvick and Busch and said his performance at Bristol was proof that he can keep pace with the frontrunners.
He looks to build off his Bristol race this weekend at Richmond, a track where he had struggled early in his career before breaking through with his first victory at the 0.75-mile track last September.
Larson posted the second-fastest lap in the first practice session Friday and was pacing the speed chart during the second practice as well.
“Typically, (Richmond) hasn’t been a good race track for me, but for whatever reason, the last time we were here we were about a top-three car all race long. I think that adds a little bit of confidence coming back here. But at the same time, I’ve struggled here in the past. I don’t know if I’ll be as good as I was last time, but I hope so."