Kyle Larson Names “Dirty Air” Hendrick Motorsports’ Biggest Issue at Richmond With William Byron Example

The outing at Richmond has been quite content for the defending Cup Series Champion. Kyle Larson finished the race in fifth as NASCAR completed its seventh round in Virginia. With this finish, Kyle picked up his third top-five finish in 2022.

Larson came in to take part in NASCAR Cup Series after making a start at Bristol Dirt Series. However, the double participation didn’t trouble him as he’s inching closer to defending his title. The Hendrick Motorsports driver started from 21st on the grid. Starting low down the order and then having a top-five finish can certainly be called a stellar performance.

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However, the 29-year-old faced dirty air problems. Drivers complaining about the dirty air left by the cars ahead is nothing new. At times, it becomes unbearable for the cars to follow from behind. Interestingly, another premier motorsport F1 has implemented a new design for their cars that leave less dirty air as compared to their predecessors.

Talking about the dirty air problems, Larson stated in a post-race interview, “Dirty air was just really hard. I mean it was you know dirty air was horrible today. You could see it with William like he once he got out of the lead you know, staying out he was really good but before that, we just got done passing him and all that. So in green flag cycles, I could rip you know clean air and pitch the group in front of me and then just be stuck. So hard to manage it but felt like we did the best with this.”

When asked about the team’s strategy, the Hendrick Motorsports driver further stated, “With 20(laps) to go or so the tires kind of fell off the cliff there. But either way, I mean good to get a top five. That feels like our strategy netted us out one or two positions with good. So happy about that and good to get back with a solid finish after three bad races in a row.”

How has the season been for Kyle Larson so far?

The season has been so far so good for the 2021 Cup Series Champion. From picking up a win at Fontana, to claiming a pole position, the start has been quite impressive. Even in Las Vegas, Kyle finished in second place behind his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports Alex Bowman.

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Although, there was a dip in performance from the Hendrick Motorsports driver as he finished in 34th, 30th and 29th position in Phoenix, Hampton and Austin, respectively. But with a fifth place in Richmond, the defending champion picked up 34 valuable points that took him to 12th in the driver’s championship. As of now, Kyle amassed a total of 183 points after seven races.