Kyle Larson admits ‘hoping’ to emulate his early race dominance after strategic setbacks in Las Vegas

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson entered the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas as a strong favorite to win. However, he finished 9th. After the race concluded, Larson shared his candid thoughts on his performance in the fifth race of the 2025 regular season.

Larson started the race from P10 and remained among the frontrunners for a major portion of the event. The HMS driver also secured his second stage win of the season, making him the first driver to achieve multiple stage wins in the 2025 Cup Series. Even though his race strategy failed on account of unpredictable cautions, he still secured a top-ten finish.

Following the end of the race, Kyle Larson was interviewed by FrontStretch, where he got candid with his responses.

"The cautions and the strategy kind of didn't play out in our favor and then I just didn't get some good restarts there the last couple of times and then my balance wasn't as good as it was early in the race in traffic. Early in the race, I was great in traffic and uh carved up to fifth in the first stage without a problem so I was hoping for more of that last run," the #5 driver said. [00:11 onwards]

"Bummer but you know super super happy with the race car we brought. It was better I mean I know we're really good here at Vegas typically but I felt like we were a little bit better than normal so, proud of the effort there. Good pit stops all that stuff, just race just didn't really play out in our strategy," he added.

NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson drives the #5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, now in his fifth full-time season with the team. Larson’s 2025 Cup Series campaign didn’t get off to the start he wanted at Daytona International Speedway. However, the Hendrick Motorsports ace bounced back in Atlanta, delivering an impressive P3 finish.

Kyle Larson weighs in on Katherine Legge's approval debate

Katherine Legge recently made her NASCAR Cup Series debut in the Shriners Children's 500 at Phoenix Raceway. The seasoned motorsport veteran saw her race cut short after spinning on track, which led to an unfortunate collision with Trackhouse Racing’s #99 driver, Daniel Suarez.

This incident has added fuel to the OEP rule controversy. In a media interaction ahead of the Las Vegas Race, Larson shared his thoughts on the subject (via Bob Pockrass).

"I think in NASCAR, I don't know what the approval process is, so I can't really speak on what needs to change," Kyle Larson said. "But it is surprising sometimes, like when some drivers are not allowed to run, and then others are. So, yeah, I don't know, maybe there just needs to be a better something in place." (0:25 onwards)

Although Legge had a tough day in the office, she became the first woman driver to compete in the Cup Series after Danica Patrick's retirement in 2018.