Expectations were high for Kyle Larson, and why wouldn’t they be? The Hendrick Motorsports driver is a force to be reckoned with on Las Vegas Motor Speedway, winning thrice on the 1.5-mile oval, including last year. After finishing third a couple of times already in the opening four races, the 2021 Cup Series champ was eager to open his account on what is arguably his strongest track. However, things didn’t work out according to plan, forcing the No. 5 Chevy racer to settle for a top-ten result.
With rival Christopher Bell securing three wins in a row already, the pressure is building on Larson to make up for lost ground. Will the California native break his nine-race winless streak soon or fall in the pecking order as the season progresses? For now, Larson is living in the present, as he reflected on a strong Las Vegas run, marred with unfortunate scenarios that left him hung out to dry.
Kyle Larson reflects on what went wrong in Las Vegas
Despite Christopher Bell’s Cup Series dominance, bookmakers had touted Kyle Larson to be the overwhelming favorite going into the 2025 Pennzoil 400. However, the weekend didn’t begin on the best note for the 32-year-old, who qualified for the race in 10th place, even behind the likes of Zane Smith, Erik Jones, and Josh Berry. However, he began the race like a man on a mission, steadily climbing up the ladder to finish fifth by the end of Stage 1 and going on to win the second stage, securing 16 points.
However, Kyle Larson couldn’t maintain the momentum as the race went on. Sharing his thoughts in the post-race interview, the racer told Frontstretch’s Michael Massie, “Yeah, the cautions and the strategy kind of didn’t play out in our favor. Didn’t get some good restarts in the last couple of times. My balance wasn’t as good as it was early on in the race in traffic. Early in the race, I was great in traffic. Carved up to 5th in the first stage without a problem. I was hoping for more of that in the last run. I don’t know, it was just pretty tight. I don’t know if the track changed a little bit there, but bummer.”
Kyle Larson was in the lead, and a lap 195 pile-up involving Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Ryan Blaney saw a caution flag. Larson and other leaders decided to pit and refuel, while others stayed out under yellow. However, the #5 team anticipated that this would be the final caution, as there were just over 60 laps to go. He refueled, but with just 25 laps to go, Noah Gragson triggered the final caution as Josh Berry took the lead with the added fuel he had. Larson was left distraught.
“The cautions and the strategy didn’t play out in our favor.”@KyleLarsonRacin exclusively spoke with our @m_massie22 about his race and what changed in his car at the end of the race. pic.twitter.com/JOEuuHOHxK
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) March 17, 2025
It’s no secret that Kyle Larson has been facing consistency issues so far. Despite finishing third in Atlanta and Phoenix, a 20th place finish at Daytona International Speedway and a 32nd place result at Circuit of the Americas highlighted the No. 5 Chevy teams’ problems. The season-opener was particularly frustrating for ‘Yung Money,’ whose struggles on superspeedway tracks continued at ‘The Great American Race.’ The racer admitted that his performance left much to be desired, going on to say, “Daytona just was rough.” However, barely finishing in the top ten in Las Vegas will be concerning for Hendrick Motorsports. ‘
The Diamond in the Desert’ is one of Kyle Larson’s strongest tracks, one that he would have circled at the start of the year as a potential race win. Going by his six race wins last year, everyone expected the California native to hit the ground running when the season began. However, Larson added context to his underperformance, saying, “Yeah, I was hoping for some green flag runs and stuff but we just never got those.” The Vegas spring race was marred by a slew of cautions, and the last one really ended Larson’s hopes, and brought back painful memories for his crew chief.
Larson’s crew chief laments their luck at Vegas
The caution-filled race started with Chase Briscoe losing his tire, which came loose on the racetrack and rolled into the wall near Turn 2. Briscoe was penalized heavily, and a similar incident almost repeated with his teammate, Christopher Bell. As Bell was leaving his pit crew, they notified him that his front left tire was loose. In a moment of quick thinking, Bell pitted at Briscoe’s station and got his tire tightened, risky but efficient.
Despite incurring a penalty for using someone else’s pit station, it was severely smaller than what he would have gotten for a stray tire, as Briscoe was held for two laps with his jackman and tire changer suspended for two races. As the race progressed, SVG spun out, and Kyle Busch lost his right rear wheel, but the big crash was on Lap 195, which triggered flashbacks for Larson’s crew chief.
Crew chief of the #5, Cliff Daniles, recalled the Vegas playoff race with Joey Logano won. “In the fall, I stayed at that yellow, knew I couldn’t make it on fuel, so I had to pit under green and spent all winter long beating myself up knowing that if I would have stayed out, we were going to be with the guys that ended up making it on fuel. In the fall, we could have had a top-three finish, and today, it went the exact opposite.” The fall race saw Larson finish in 11th place after running amongst the top for most of the race, as a faulty fuel strategy saw Larson miss out, and Joey Logano won that race.
A fuel mileage strategy is always what Fords are good at, and evidently, it paid dividends today. Josh Berry became the first Ford to notch up a win this season as Christopher Bell’s win streak was ended. However, Larson will leave Vegas with a sour taste in his mouth, knowing that he was probably at his best so far this season today, but luck lost him the race. What do you think? Was Larson unlucky, or was it just bad strategy? Let us know in the comments!
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