Going into the Cup Series race in Phoenix, Kyle Larson was the hot favorite to win after his incredible victory at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The general consensus was that it would be tough to stop the #5 from being in Victory Lane for the second week running, so people did not hesitate to bet on the Hendrick Motorsports star. But when the dust settled and it turned out that the former Cup Series champion was actually miles off the pace, people were left shocked and disappointed.

It was not just Kyle Larson who had a bad day, but all of Hendrick Motorsports. The #5 was at least able to finish in the top 15 somehow. The other three, William Byron, Chase Elliott, and Alex Bowman, finished in P18, P19, and P20, respectively. They will be looking to make amends the following weekend when NASCAR goes to the iconic Bristol Motor Speedway for the season’s only dirt race.

A pit stop blunder cost Kyle Larson a top-10 finish and some big bucks 

The first couple of stages were decent for Yung Money and Hendrick Motorsports, but things went wrong in the final stage. The team had won two out of the previous three races, but on Sunday, they looked like one that had struggled to finish in the top 10. Well, to be fair, Elliott and Bowman have been non-factors so far this season when it comes to running at the front of the pack, but Larson’s performance disappointed fans since there was a lot of money riding on his race.

According to NBC, Yung Money had the most money out of any driver and bet on him to win the race with 31.3% of the total amount. One fan saw what was coming and commented, “31.3% of people will be majorly disappointed,” but it was already too late. It served as an important lesson to race fans: being dominant, even over two races, is unbelievably difficult in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The driver of the #5 car might have been able to put himself in a good position towards the end of the race had it not been for a shoddy pitstop that ruined a lot of his hard work. The #5 team had a tough time with the right rear tire as they just could not get it to tighten quickly enough, which cost Kyle Larson a lot of time and places. By the time he came out onto the track, it was just too much to ask of him to win.

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Crew chief Cliff Daniels was immediately seen in conversation with his pit crew about what went wrong. It must have been incredibly disappointing for the motorsports veteran, who only a few days ago said that the team needed to constantly keep evolving. This weekend, they might have taken a step backward.

Despite evolutionary claims, the veteran crew chief was left red-faced

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As per a report by RACER, in a media interaction following his victory in Vegas, Daniels said, “We’re going to have to keep evolving pretty quick because the more they start to get their stuff figured out, the gap is going to get closed. I know that win both stages and win the race, you would say we had the dominant day, but there were some cars that were pretty tough right there with us, and at the end of long runs, the 45 was there every time. I think the gap is actually tighter than what it may look on paper.”

Well, it’s safe to say that the gap has not only been closed, but a new one has been built ahead, and Kyle Larson is far behind. The pit stop error was embarrassing for the Hendrick Motorsports team’s standing. And it happened in front of the team’s legends, who have won 11 Cup Series championships among them, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. So, in all probability, it was pretty embarrassing for crew chief Daniels.

The team will be looking for a strong comeback in Bristol and then Austin afterward, but that is easier said than done. The dirt race is something Kyle Larson will be looking forward to as he searches for his second race win this season.