By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
It was the Kyle and Kyle show in the final 20 lap stint of the Food City 500, but Kyle Larson was unable to score the victory at Bristol.
During the green flag stint that started on lap 399, Larson had put a distance of about half a racetrack between him and the second place car. Unfortunately, the caution flew on lap 471 for an incident involving Brad Keselowski.
Because of the long green flag run, Larson was brought down pit road to change four tire and add fuel. Larson restarted on the outside lane, but was unable to hold onto the lead after obtaining a loose car in the final stint, something he never expected.
“I just didn’t expect to get that loose that run there. The 17 almost got by me, was able to hold him off. I thought the grip was getting better, which it did a little bit, but not nearly good enough. Not sure if the track changed a lot there or what, but I lost the balance on the car,” Larson stated.
Larson was passed by Kyle Busch with five laps remaining, but knew that he needed slower traffic to kill the momentum.
“I knew it would be hard to get back to him. I knew I would need a lapper to kind of hold him up on exit and kill his momentum to allow me to maybe get back to his bumper, but there just weren’t a whole lot of cars left out there,” Larson continued.
Despite leading 200 laps, Larson was disappointed that he did not score the victory; something he feels happens every time the circuit comes to Bristol.
“I hate that I didn’t win,” Larson said. “It’s another one at Bristol. I feel like every time I race here I almost get a win. It was a fun race. I’ve been beat by Kyle about every time I race here, too, so that gets frustrating after a while.”
Larson sits ninth in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points standings, just 116 points behind Busch.