"Daytona and Talladega suck": Kyle Larson issues a damning response to fan favorite NASCAR superspeedway tracks

Former Cup Series champion Kyle Larson recently shared his thoughts on racing at Daytona and Talladega. Despite his success across several disciplines of motorsport, superspeedways haven’t been his strong suit, and he didn’t hold back in expressing his honest opinion about the fan-favorite tracks.

Larson's 2025 season started with a disappointing night at Daytona International Speedway. The #5 driver started the 500-mile event from P22 and despite his best efforts, the California native crossed the start-finish line in 20th place.

However, Kyle Larson covered up for it at Atlanta Motor Speedway after securing a P3 finish at the Ambetter Health 400. Nonetheless, in a post-race interview with NASCAR insider Kelly Crandall, the 29-time Cup race winner reflected on his performance, comparing it with superspeedway events.

"This is totally different than Daytona and Talladega. I do have more confidence when we come here even though this is my first finish. Just because I think handling comes into play and it's not just like luck of the lane that you get in necessarily, where Daytona was a lot of that last week. I feel like I make 50% of the time the right lane decision where last it is like 10% of the time the right choice so it just works that way," Larson said

On being asked whether he feels more in control at Atlanta, the HMs driver responded:

Absolutely. All of us are in more control here so it's more fun. Daytona and Talladega suck, like they suck"

Kyle Larson is one of the top competitors in the Cup Series. Now in his 11th full-time season, he has 29 wins and 21 poles in nearly 370 starts. His most dominant run came in 2021 when he won 10 races en route to his championship.

Larson finished in the top 20 at COTA last year, where the Cup Series is headed next. It remains to be seen if he can carry forward his momentum from Atlanta.

Jeff Gordon weighs in on Kyle Larson’s biggest weakness: "Gosh, the guy is not perfect"

Four-time Cup Series champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon shared his thoughts on Kyle Larson’s struggles at superspeedways. While Larson has proven to be a dominant force on most tracks, his performance at Daytona and Talladega continues to elude him.

In a post-race conference following the Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon shed light on the #5 driver's abilities. (via Cup Scene)

"Gosh, the guy is not perfect. I think now I’m starting to see it’s getting in his head. I’ve had a few conversations with him, and like, 'man, just go for it, just forget about it, don’t try to even overthink it.' But you can’t win that many races in a row, doesn’t go your way." [23:10]

Meanwhile, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron secured his second consecutive Daytona 500 win, notably breaking Gordon's record of being the youngest driver to achieve that feat.