‘Bummed’ Kyle Larson reveals where he missed out on Pennzoil 400 victory after finishing 2nd

Kyle Larson lost the Pennzoil 400 to his teammate William Byron by a margin of 0.622 seconds at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Larson had a rough start in the first two outings of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season but he appeared to be charging towards his first win of the season at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. However, a caution with four laps to go forced an overtime restart, which opened the door for Byron to win.

Despite the P2 finish, the result was bittersweet for Larson as he knew that he had missed a good chance to secure his first win of the season.

Speaking on how he missed out on a Pennzoil 400 victory during the post-race interview, Larson said pit work was the deciding factor as the #24 team’s crew was faster than his #5 crew. Larson said:

“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.”

The Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won the last three spring races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Kyle Larson in 2021, Alex Bowman in 2022, and William Byron on Sunday.

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“I wasn’t surprised and felt like we had a good day” – Kyle Larson

Overall, it was a good day for Larson, who led 63 laps and finished second in both stages. His teammate and eventual winner Byron dominated the event by sweeping both stages and led a race-high 176 of 271 laps.

Speaking about Sunday's event, Larson said:

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

Catch Kyle Larson next at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 on March 12.