Despite not having all of his drivers in the playoffs, Rick Hendrick would be satisfied with how the season has turned out so far. His two drivers who are in the playoffs have been in great form and the team recently earned their 300th Cup Series race win. However, there are still a lot of questions that need to be answered in the remainder of the season. Being one of the strongest teams will earn you a lot of doubters and unfortunately, some of them were proven right on Sunday.

Ahead of the round of 12 race in Talladega, Rick Hendrick & Co. were oozing confidence. The events of Sunday might not have done much to dent that confidence. But it definitely was not how they would have wanted things to turn out for one of their title contenders.

Title charge still on the cards for the Rick Hendrick ace despite Talladega troubles

HMS’ youngest member, William Byron, has already secured his place in the round of 8 thanks to a stunning victory in Texas. Now, it was over to the 2021 Cup Series champion Kyle Larson to cement his spot. Larson was one of the stars of the round of 16, winning one race and finishing in the top five in the other two. But his round of 12 did not get off to a good start at all.

The 31-year-old did not finish the race in Texas. He lost control of his car as he was racing Bubba Wallace for the lead and crashed it into the wall. Kyle Larson knew that he had to deliver a good performance. And what better place to do it than the Talladega Superspeedway? It is a track on which Larson has never won and his average finish is over 25. Finishing well on the iconic track would have not only set his title aspirations back on track but also proven his doubters wrong. 

Well, he almost achieved his goal. He was in sixth place in the final lap of the race, battling to get into the top five. But a last-lap crash just as the leaders crossed the finish line dropped him down the order in an instant. The HMS Star had to settle for 15th place at the end of it all. Amid all this, one of NASCAR’s most prominent Insiders shed light on Larson’s struggles.

According to Jeff Gluck, Larson still has a very good chance of making it through to the next round despite Sunday’s disappointing conclusion. “Despite all the talk about, ‘Oh Kyle Larson cannot finish at a superspeedway,’ he was almost going to today and then he gets taken out going across the finish line in the big wreck and ends up 16th. I don’t know, I mean, that probably cost him at least five spots, I would think.

“I mean, he was still kind of at speed and sliding but he got passed there by some cars at the end by getting turned so, you know, I’m sure he is a little bit frustrated by that but still +15 going to the Roval. He controls his destiny,” Gluck said on a recent episode of The Teardown.

It is interesting that Larson would end up having an unfortunate incident at Talladega. Ahead of the event, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had revealed his apprehensions about the track. But he also said that he had worked on that aspect of his racing.

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Did Kyle Larson jinx his luck on Sunday by calling himself “the worst speedway racer”?

In a pre race interview, the 2021 Cup Series champion said that he perhaps was the worst driver at Talladega if one looked at the statistics.

“I mean, on paper, I’m by far the worst speedway racer in the history of Daytona and Talladega, I’m sure,” he had said. But the #5 Chevy driver was quick to mention that he was not a bad superspeedway racer. This had given his fans a lot of hope before the race as the 2021 Cup Series champion did cut a confident figure.

“But when you really pay attention to the race, I’m not that bad and I’ve had to convince myself on that. So I think it comes down to just one or two little bits and pieces of execution,” he added.

Even though the execution was decent on Sunday, Larson suffered an unfortunate incident right at the end. Did he jinx his luck with his comments? Maybe so, maybe not. All that’s left is to look forward to the Roval, which promises to be yet another thrilling race weekend.

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