This Sunday’s Daytona 500 did not pan out well for Kyle Larson. The driver was taken out in a six-car wreck on lap 190.
Speaking about his outing at Daytona International Speedway, the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 car #5 driver said:
“It’s disappointing. I had a run there on the #4 [Kevin Harvick]. I didn’t realize how close he was to the #17 [Chris Buescher]. I got to him right as he was getting to him and it got him out of shape. I hate that I did that. It’s so hard to see in front of him, especially on the straightaway like that.”
Having won the NASCAR Cup Series in 2021, Larson was coming in on a high this season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was in his ninth appearance at the Daytona 500, and second for his team.
He made his return to Daytona all the more special by grabbing pole position on Wednesday’s qualifying. He also locked out the front row with his team-mate Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, marking a dominating qualifying performance for his team as well as his manufacturer.
Come race day, however, Kyle Larson could not convert his pole position to a race win, much less to a race finish. A six-car accident on lap 190 took him out, along with drivers Kevin Harvick, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones, and Noah Gragson, the latter of whom was making his first start in NASCAR’s top division.
Larson expressed his disappointment, saying:
“I hate that it ended our day, as well as a bunch of others. Our No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy was fast and hopefully, we can see a Chevy win here with Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] out front.”
Kyle Larson’s Daytona 500 qualifying performance a record-setter
In achieving pole on Sunday, Kyle Larson appended the NASCAR record books for both his team and his car manufacturer. His qualifying run made it the 15th pole position for Hendrick Motorsports, making it the highest among all the teams on the current grid.
Further, the achievement also marked 2022 as the tenth consecutive year for which a Chevrolet has been on pole at the Daytona 500. The manufacturer from Motown has been one of the most successful manufacturers in the history of the sport. Chevrolet has now won 724 poles in the series, of which 52 are from Daytona International Speedway.
Meanwhile, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track next week at Auto Club Speedway for the Wise Power 400 on February 27.
Also Check out : Nascar Daytona 500 Results