Kyle Larson makes his dilemma crystal clear after bearing the brunt of NASCAR’s COTA confusion

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson has expressed his dilemma about not knowing the COTA track limits after NASCAR penalized him for breaching it at the newly reconfigured 2.3-mile circuit. The 2021 Cup Series champion voiced that he didn't know the Turn was part of track limits enforcement and thus made the misjudgment of shortcutting through it.

NASCAR raced in the first road course race of the season after two weekends of superspeedway racing at Daytona and Atlanta. However, the officials didn't explicitly state which turns would be enforced under the track limits at COTA; they mentioned that the esses would be scrutinized. It led to several teams and drivers assuming that it'd be Turns 3, 4, 5, and 6. But that's not what Larson thought.

The 95-lap event proved disastrous for the #5 Chevrolet driver after shortcutting Turn 3 while running in eighth on Lap 33. Thus, amid facing the brunt of a stop-and-go penalty, Larson expressed his unawareness of the track limits being enforced on Turn 3.

"I didn't know they were calling 3," Kyle Larson said via Matt Weaver.

Further fueling the confusion, NASCAR officials communicated that Turn 6 would not fall under track limits, but the other officials told spotters the contrary.

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Kyle Larson faces another penalty after a wheel came off his Chevrolet Camaro

Kyle Larson's day turned from bad to worse when, just a lap after a slow pitstop and the early track limit turmoil, his #5 Chevy encountered trouble as it maneuvered through Turn 15. The Camaro's right front wheel detached from the NextGen car and rolled toward the outfield grass on Lap 44.

The incident didn't attract a caution, and Larson managed to steer his ride back to the pitlane. But the damage was done, and NASCAR penalized the HMS driver with a two-lap penalty.

Larson finished seventh in Stage 1 and succumbed to 37th place in the second stage after being held for two laps due to the tire penalty.

The repercussions of Kyle Larson's tire coming off would result in a two-week suspension for the two crew members responsible. The #5 Chevy driver finished in 32nd place at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix and would race at the Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a scarcity of two members.