No Rebound for Kyle Larson Following Penalty

By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer

Kyle Larson was the man to beat for the majority of Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

However, it was a mistake that cost Larson at ending 48-race winless drought after his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was caught speeding in the race’s final stage.

Leading a race-high 142 laps, Larson was the stage one winner and nearly swept with stage two following a back-and-forth battle with Kevin Harvick. But the penalty placed Larson to the rear of the field, ending his chance at coming back. He finished 12th.

“I lost a lot of front grip once I went to the back,” Larson said. “I could go really good through [Turns] 1 and 2 for a long time. I could never do that once I got into traffic.”

Hoping to play the student role with the series’ new aero package, Larson believes it didn’t significantly affect the racing.

“On the frontstretch, there was a little suck-up but nothing… nothing huge,” he said. “I was surprised. I thought once I got into traffic, I said, ‘OK, I can learn more about how big the runs will be.’ But really, there weren’t any big runs.”

With the change between dirty-air and clean-air runs, it was comparable to 2018’s aero package at Atlanta.

“It just felt like a typical race,” he said. “At times, I’d be running the top and the [Nos.] 19 or 4 would be behind me running the bottom. I would catch a lapper and go to the bottom and if they follow me down there, they would get real tight down there.”

Managing only 12th, Larson gave it all he had in the season’s opening 1.5-mile race.

“With me up there running the top, running the bottom, it was a battling hard,” he said. “I don’t think the package made us battle for the lead any differently than what it would have with the old package.”