“It just didn’t work out”: Kyle Larson delivers his verdict on finishing behind William Byron at Las Vegas

Kyle Larson finished second behind his teammate William Byron at Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver believes the race was lost on the pit road.

With four laps to go, Larson was in the lead and looked on course to win the race. However, Aric Almirola's crash brought out a late-race caution, adding overtime. All the lead drivers were pitted except Martin Truex Jr.

A quick stop for Byron meant Larson joined behind his teammate. From then on, it was an easy victory for the #24 driver.

Larson said in a post-race interview:

"If I could just lead the rest of the way like we were going to, we were going to get the win but it just didn’t work out."

The #5 driver also spoke about the race to the pit exit, where he lost his lead in the contest. He added:

"We needed to be about five feet further up than what we were at the exit of the commitment line and beat William off pit road and probably would have won. Proud of the effort, proud of the car. We executed pretty well all day and the 24’s pit stop was better than ours there at the end. Bummed but all in all, we needed a good run today, second in all three stages and good points day."

Kyle Larson, who started the race in the third row, endured a dull race. The #5 driver finished behind Byron in both stages and in the race for victory.

Larson wasn't surprised that the race was uneventful, even with gusty winds challenging the drivers. The majority of the race was caution-free, except for moments when drivers lost control of the rear end of their cars.

The 2021 Cup Series champion added:

"It was pretty high grip today with the cool temperatures, so I didn’t think you’d have too many people spinning out today."

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Kyle Larson and his teammates sweep the podium

Hendrick Motorsports drivers managed a podium clean sweep at the Las Vegas race. William Byron had a dominant run to victory, having started the race in the front row. Kyle Larson took second place, while Alex Bowman bagged the last step on the podium. Substitute driver Josh Berry finished in 29th position.

Byron led 176 of the 271 laps of the race. The #24 driver also achieved his first career stage sweep.

Larson praised the team as he said:

"I wasn’t surprised and felt like we had a good day. William had a pit stop there — he was the car I thought to beat — and I hadn’t spent any time behind Alex (Bowman) but I thought he was going to be really good too. William was able to restart behind us and then we beat Alex to the lead, getting by the 11(Hamlin)."

Kyle Larson jumped to 14th position in the drivers' standings, one spot behind Byron.