Kyle Larson disclosed his least favorite track in response to a question posed by Darian Gilliam, the host of the Black Flag Matter podcast. He also expressed a contentious stance about scheduling NASCAR races at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Except for the 0.533-mile short oval, the Hendrick Motorsports driver appears to be at ease on any circuit.
Several NASCAR circuits host two Cup races each year. This includes Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Martinsville Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Bristol Motor Speedway, to name a few.
However, with recent changes in NASCAR about the popularity of the tracks, the NextGen vehicle, the enhanced short-track packages, and the new Goodyear compound testing, various discussions of reducing the venues to a single event have circulated in the community.
Gilliam asked the fanbase which track should be scraped from having two races in a season. While the fans had a mixed bag of opinions, Kyle Larson was seemingly firm with his pick. Per the HMS driver, he’s good with any track having two races except the Bristol Motor Speedway.The most recent debacle at the 0.533-mile short track was triumphed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin while Larson rounded up a fifth-place finish despite kicking off his run from tenth place on the grid.
This time, the Food City 500 took place on concrete rather than the dirt track, birthing chaos. The severe tire management problems called for precise strategies with a minor scope for error. As a result, the 500-lap race was primarily focused on preserving the rubber and preventing drivers from making maneuvers that would eat up the tires even faster.Hence, Bristol’s aspect didn’t suit Kyle Larson, leading to his decision.
“Any one that has 2 dates except for Bristol ,” the 2021 Cup Series champion replied.
“I would never want to do that again”- Kyle Larson discusses his reluctance to race at Bristol.
Kyle Larson faced some issues on the final segment at Bristol Motor Speedway. Shortly after restarting his race from third place on Lap 323, the #5 Chevy driver received a penalty for equipment interference.
As a result, he went from running among the contenders to plummeting to the rear of the pack. Despite that, Larson rallied and after a tough overtaking process, he caught up with the frontrunners to come home with his second top-5 finish.
Nonetheless, Kyle Larson wasn’t satisfied with the massive tire degradation and the resulting strategies. During a post-race conversation with Noah Lewis, the HMS driver weighed on his reluctance to never race again at Bristol.
“I would never want to do that again. To have to run a race like that every week would not be good, and it’s honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn’t get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that,” Larson said via YouTube (1.31).
Currently, Kyle Larson is second in the Cup Series standings with an eight-point deficit after recently getting overtaken by his teammate Chase Elliott.
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