Kyle Larson was on fire, leading an impressive 17 laps [even outdoing the race winner, Daniel Suarez] at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Initially, Larson and Kyle Busch were competing closely, juggling the lead back and forth, until a bold maneuver was pulled by the RFK Racing co-owner. Brad Keselowski put an abrupt end to Larson’s run during Stage 3 and turned #5’s day south, leaving the 2021 champ to finish P33.

However, despite the less-than-satisfactory race, Kyle Larson admits to enjoying the joy of racing. Nevertheless, he didn’t shy away from admitting that the NASCAR Cup’s jam-packed schedule can really be overwhelming at times.

Kyle Larson called the Atlanta race ‘wild’ even though it ended soon for him 

The 2021 champ has had a string of bad luck at the revamped Atlanta Motor Speedway, crashing in all six races on the updated track. This time around, Kyle Larson seemed to be in it more for the thrill of the ride than anything else. After his race ended prematurely at lap 220, he shared in his post-race chat that, despite the hectic NASCAR schedule wearing him thin, he genuinely enjoyed the race.

He mentioned, “It actually was a lot of fun. I wouldn’t want to do that every week, but, uh, you know, it was much more fun than than last week. So uh yeah, I mean I don’t know if there was ever a lap like where you weren’t you know thinking about you know moves or trying to block moves or whatever. You just trying to stay in line you know the cars were not driving very good so um yeah I was enjoying it. It was uh felt like a lot went on before we got done with the second stage. So um pretty crazy but uh I don’t know how it’s coming across on TV but from the driver’s seat it’s it’s wild.”

Larson, who started fifth, was in the thick of it with the leaders early on. The HMS champ, along with Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie, had managed to steer clear of trouble for most of the Ambetter Health 400, but a late-race crash threw all that out the window. However, Keselowski, eager to break a 100-race dry spell, lost control of his #6 Ford and spun out in a climactic moment. He was high up on the track, leaving Larson and LaJoie nowhere to go but into the fray. 

It turned out that by the end of the crashes, only a handful of drivers hadn’t been caught up in some kind of mishap, including Austin Cindric, Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. During the post-race chit-chat, Larson also reflected on a moment somewhere around lap 163 when cars went four-wide.

#5 shared his surprise at dodging a bullet during a nail-biter in Stage 3

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When the leaders decided to go four-wide, Kyle Larson was sure they were heading for a major pile-up. After a pit stop where he had a snag with the left rear, Larson was thinking they were all going to end up in a heap. “For sure we were going to you know crash the field there. But uh somehow we all made it through. So, um pretty incredible stuff.”

But his luck ran out on Lap 220 when he got tangled up with Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie, causing a caution to fly. Keselowski spun out without a nudge from anyone else, and Larson was left with no escape route. Reflecting on the incident, he said, “Then I just get caught up in a wreck where nobody uh touches uh Brad to spin. So, um yeah I hate that um again you know another DNF for us at Atlanta. So, it looks really bad but yeah we’re up front again you know. We’re upfront every single time we crash here. So um yeah hopefully works out uh in the fall and we don’t have to see all the same you know metrics in there.”

Kyle Larson Robbed of Atlanta Run as Brad Keselowski’s Antics Jeopardize HMS Superstar

It was a rough day at the Hendrick Motorsports camp, with all their drivers getting caught in mishaps. Chase Elliott managed to weather the storm, finishing 15th, while William Byron limped home two spots behind, doing the best he could given the situation.