Kyle Larson is on a move to conquer 2024 as one of the powerful drivers. Catching an early season win in Las Vegas in dominating fashion, Larson stands 5th on the drivers’ rankings. Also, he swept up the pole position for the looming Cup Series Richmond race. But why is our bright racer getting sweaty?

If there was one race track that intimidated Kyle Larson, it would be Martinsville Speedway. He collected a victory last year that supposedly snuffed out his fears surrounding the place. Yet it seems he has still not gotten over his apprehensions about the track.

Kyle Larson is feeling jittery about next weekend’s race

The No. 5 Chevrolet driver’s thoughts seem to be racing ahead of him. Kyle Larson turned a fast lap at 120.332 mph to win the pole for the Richmond race, barely surpassing his teammate Chase Elliott. However, he is not too worried about Richmond, his concerns are glued to the race that will follow next at Martinsville. 

In a pre-race conference, a media person asked Larson if he is comfortable with Martinsville now, assuming he must have gotten over his fears. Yet they were proved wrong by his answer: “Um, it’s still not. Honestly, it’s still not comfortable for me. I don’t really still feel like I can run consistent, comfortable laps with a rhythm. I mean I won last year, but it’s still not like a good track for me. You know, I don’t go there and dominate like I have at a lot of other race tracks.”

Last year in April, Kyle Larson turned down popular beliefs. He commanded the final 50 laps of the ninth points race to clinch a win. A strategy call played out as a crucial factor in sealing his success. Before the last 50 laps, his crew chose to take two tires while much of the rest of the field took four. 

Despite having an efficient crew, Larson has a longer path to tread. As his crew chief, Cliff Daniels, said, “We happened to win there last year, so that was really neat, and something that I’ll never forget. Just something that I never thought would be done. But I still have a lot of room for improvement there to be consistent.” 

As the 2023 season moved ahead after Larson’s Martinsville win, NASCAR was back on the same track in October with the Cup Series Xfinity 500. However, he did not fare so well there. 

Larson credited his team for saving his face in October

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The race in April aligned with Larson’s stars. Yet in the following race at Martinsville last year, Kyle Larson had to struggle to maintain his spot. Beginning in the 5th position, he missed out on stage points in the first 130 laps. Then in the second stage, he faced a dilemma where his car was “tight in the center with no drive off.” Eventually, Cliff Daniels took the call for fuel on lap 325, which allowed Larson to regain laps.

Finishing 6th, Larson credited his pit team. “My team made some good strategy calls there in the final stage to get some track position and come away with the best finish possible.”

Hopefully, Kyle Larson will find a way to calm his nerves before the Martinsville race looms large on his horizon.

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