“Choked up off of 2” - Kyle Larson describes the battle with Daniel Suarez at Auto Club Speedway

Kyle Larson almost lost the lead at the WISE Power 400 after Daniel Suarez pulled in at impressive speed with three laps to go. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion was more focused on Joey Logano, with the two having battled for a couple of laps. Before Larson knew it, Suarez had already taken the lead.

While outlining his tough battle with Suarez and how he managed to edge him, Larson said:

“I hadn’t really spent much time on Suárez but he had told me that he was pretty good on the short runs. Yeah, I knew I was going to have to fight him off. Was hoping that I wouldn’t, but Logano was so good I felt like on the short run that I was more worried about him through 1 and 2, and had to -- I peeled off to the middle and he was able to run a lot of speed and get close to my outside, and I kind of had to throttle up to make sure that didn’t happen.”

The car #5 driver further went on to say:

“Then it got us kind of choked up off of 2, and Suárez had a good one in 2 and a really good 3 and 4 and got by me. Then -- actually I think I led through 3 and 4. They got a good push behind me and got clear into 1, and then he went to the bottom again once we got to 3 and 4 the next time by, and I’m not sure if he got tight or loose or what, but his momentum was killed off of 4 and I was able to get a good run to get by him.”

Meanwhile, Trackhouse Racing was impressed with its driver Daniel Suarez finishing fourth. The team took to Twitter to commend the Mexican for his drive.

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A dismal qualifying did not hinder Kyle Larson from taking the race win

Kyle Larson could not manage to take the pole during the qualifying race and could only muster a P13 start. The Hendrick Motorsports driver of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 #5, however, was not ready to lose the WISE Power 400, held in his home state of California.

He began the race from the rare end of the field, coming all the way to lead the pack. Larson and Joey Logano started the side-draft as the latter held the bottom line. With 20 laps to go, bad luck struck Larson’s team-mate Chase Elliot, who was trying to make his way through before Larson inadvertently blocked him and sent him into the wall.

With four laps remaining, Daniel Suarez displayed his full potential in the short run after passing Kyle Larson, giving the latter a hard time catching up with him. After a struggle, Larson managed to secure the lead. He then went all the way to hold back Austin Dillon and eventually collected his first 2022 NASCAR season win at the Auto Club Speedway. The last time he triumphed at the event was in 2017.