All in all, it has been a horrible race for Hendrick Motorsports. All of their drivers have been involved in wrecks throughout the race. First, it was Alex Bowman and William Byron; later on, Elliott had his own incident. Now, to add to that misery, Kyle Larson has been caught up in the latest crash.
It all began when Brad Keselowski lost control, and Larson had nowhere to go. Additionally, Corey LaJoie was another innocent victim, and their races were jeopardized. It was a real shame because Larson was an early race leader and was trading the race lead with Kyle Busch for a while. Sadly, the move from Keselowski pretty much ended the#5 driver’s race.
How did Kyle Larson perform in the race until the accident?
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As mentioned before, he was right up among the race leaders in the early stages of the race. The #5 driver was one of two surviving Hendrick Motorsports cars, alongside Chase Elliott. Alex Bowman had been skittled out early in a 16-car wreck. Meanwhile, Daytona 500 winner William Byron was tagged out by an out-of-control Michael McDowell. To make matters all the more humiliating, the two were heading to pit road at the time.
After some time, Chase Elliott had his own adventures, so it was up to Larson to fly the HMS flag. In the end, Keselowski’s loss of control knocked the #5, #6, and #7 cars, which may have totally been a coincidence. At least Elliott managed to survive the drama and end the race in 15th place. Two places behind him was a recovering Byron, but that was the best that he could do with the circumstances.
On the other hand, the latest standings show Kyle Larson at the P32 position with a glaring DNF beside his name.
Keselowski in the wall and collects Larson and Lajoie; Nemechek
"We're destroyed."
LarsonThey are
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) February 25, 2024
That being said, the 2021 Cup Series surely wouldn’t want one setback to cloud his mind for the rest of the season. In a recent interview, he also iterated his hope for better performances in the future.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver will want to forget this race
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Larson confessed that he enjoyed the race up until the accident. Who knows, had it not happened, he could have either been in a position to win the race or at least stay within the Top 10. Now all that he can do is ponder the could-have-been and then move on to the next race. However, it doesn’t look like Larson is letting his bad run get to him.
In an interview with ‘Frontstretch’, Larson mentioned how the HMS cars were showing some incredible performances until mishaps intervened. He also exuded hope that despite the dismal showing at Atlanta, looking at HMS’ track record, things might work out later in the season.
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“We all made it through some pretty incredible stuff, but then I just get caught up in a wreck where nobody touches Brad to spin, so yeah, I hate that. 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 up front every single time we crash here so hopefully works out in the fall. And we don’t have to see all the same, you know, medics in there,” he said.
The racer also promptly took to Twitter to share a positive message and tweeted, “That was the most fun I’ve ever had in a drafting race. Extremely intense! Hate bad luck got ahold of us again there but happy with our execution in these first 2 races!”
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Talking about the next race on the roster, it’s set to be superspeedway race, as the next track is the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Past performances for Hendrick Motorsports at this location have been pretty promising, and the team won the last three Pennzoil 400s at Las Vegas. Larson also won the October 2023 race at Las Vegas, so he should be one of the favorites to win again.
READ MORE: Kyle Larson Admits NASCARs Schedule Revamp Is Overwhelming Despite Enjoying the Racing It Brings