Despite a frustrating afternoon derailed by a flat tire early in last Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team continued to claw their way into racing throughout the 267-lap race. . Miraculously, in the closing laps, Larson found himself in second position and was chasing Ryan Blaney for a potential Championship 4 victory.

Then, with 13 laps to go, Larson, one of the most talented drivers in the world but also one of the most aggressive, saw an opportunity. He decided to try to take it. As Blaney tried to get around Austin Dillon’s car in Turn 3, Larson saw a hole between the two cars and decided to shoot his car into it.

The #5 car was noticeably faster than both cars, but unfortunately Larson ran out of space, collided with Blaney’s car and spun at turn 4.

What looked like a potential victory, or at least a top five salvage after a tough day, ended in a disappointing 13th place finish. With 13th place and strong performances from all of his competitors in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Larson heads into this weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Martinsville Speedway, seven points below the cutoff line. playoffs.

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During a conference call with the media Tuesday, Larson said that while he was unfortunate to have spun while trying to win the race, he was just proud of himself and his racing team. ‘be in this position given the difficulty of their afternoon at Homestead.

“I mean, of course, I’m disappointed that I blew a gap and spun and lost my shot to win. That’s happened to me a few times in my career. But At the same time, I’m proud of myself, because I stayed mentally focused up until that moment to put myself in a position to win,” Larson explained. “I’m not sure there are many other drivers who could have done it. So I’m happy I could do it.”

Fans, media and even Larson himself looked back on the spin with 13 laps to go and wondered why the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion didn’t bide his time and waited a few laps for a less risky to try to pass Blaney for the lead.

But after thinking about this decision extensively since Sunday, Larson still feels he made the right choice simply because you never know if you’ll have another chance to overtake the leader with the way aerodynamics play out in the Next Gen car.

“Of course, I wish that decision had worked, but I think it’s very easy to look back and fans, or even myself, look back and say, ‘Well, you should have wait, you should have waited a turn or two.’ .’ It looks so easy, but these cars are so hard to drive in traffic, and it’s really hard to get within five car lengths of someone once you’re deep in a running, and all that, and running close to the wall,” Larson said.

Larson says he can live by being aggressive, going for victory, and it doesn’t pay, sitting idly and waiting for an opportunity that never comes.

“So, that’s as close as I was (to Blaney), and I think you have to try to enjoy those moments. Obviously, in hindsight, and not everything works out, of course, I would like to play things a little differently, and maybe I have another opportunity But otherwise, I don’t know if I could live with myself, (if) I was too patient and thought I would have. time, and I didn’t have time,” Larson said. “So it’s just racing. My aggression is often good, and that maybe gets me in trouble sometimes.”

The 32-year-old promises to remain aggressive in the rest of his racing career.

“Yeah, I think I’ve (stayed aggressive) my whole career (that’s why) that’s why I always have the other half saying I’m rubbish, and I’m horrible and all that,” laughed Larson. “But I think I’ll always be that driver. I think having grown up driving Sprint cars and constantly attacking every lap, I think that’s a big asset for me. And yeah, sometimes It bites me, but I would say most of the time I’m in contention to win because of that aggression.”

While Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team live and die each week with Larson’s aggressive moves on the track, the driver says his team has always had his back, whether his moves went right or not, and that they were there to support them. him after Sunday

“My team supports my style and all that. And they were always really proud of me and the momentum we brought on Sunday,” Larson said. “So yeah, I just hope it goes differently next time.”

Last week didn’t go as planned, but the driver who has been the favorite to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship has one last chance to get back inside the playoff finish line this weekend. end at Martinsville Speedway, a track where he once struggled. powerfully to. Larson heads into Sunday’s Xfinity 500 with cautious optimism due to a four-race top-10 streak at the track.

“I have a lot more confidence than I did five years ago,” Larson laughed about the 0.526-mile short track in Virginia. “Being so close to the limit, I feel like since I joined Hendrick, this is actually one of my best tracks. Maybe not in terms of runs scored, but in terms of the finish we won, we finished second a few times maybe I finished in the top five, maybe one or two other times, so yeah, I have confidence to go.

The only trepidation Larson, who leads the NASCAR Cup Series with six wins this season, feels heading into the race is that he is never the dominant driver in any race at Martinsville like almost every other playoff contender, who will be looking to get locked into Championship 4 this weekend, I’ve had that in the past.

“I just didn’t feel like I dominated the speed there, and I think my car is still a lot better than there. Where guys like Denny (Hamlin), (Ryan) Blaney lately, Chase (Elliott) and William (Byron), you know they had dominant speed and those are all the guys I go against,” Larson said. “I think we’ll have a good car, a great car, and we’ll have a good chance, but it’s just a tough place. And it’s not a place that’s ever been really comfortable for me, even with the success we have “I have had. It’s a difficult track, really difficult for me. ”

Although it’s not his best track, Larson, like the six other drivers still in contention for a Championship 4 spot, has a victory in the half-mile trombone. And Larson, as has been noted, has increased his performance at Martinsville Speedway in recent years. Since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, Larson has a 7.0 average on the track, 9.7 positions better than his career average (16.7) at Martinsville.

So, he may not consider himself a Martinsville master, but his recent string of great races at the track suggest he’ll be able to take on his fellow playoff contenders this weekend. And if he misses Championship 4, Larson is at peace with it all. Ultimately, he feels his team overcame a lot of adversity despite entering the playoffs as a No. 1 seed.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’ll be fun to see what we can do,” Larson said. “It’s a tough track, but yeah, it would be nice if we make it, but if not, we still had a great year. And like I said, we had to overcome a lot, and I’ I’m proud to still be in the position we’re in.