Kyle Larson to start in P36 after a qualifying crash ahead of NASCAR Cup elimination race at Charlotte Roval

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson had a disastrous start to his weekend at the Charlotte Roval as he crashed out of Saturday's practice session. The session-ending crash meant he couldn't set a lap time in qualifying and dropped to the rear of the field for Sunday's race.

The #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy took substantial damage to the right-front corner when Larson got loose entering Turn 8, over-corrected his car and hit the outside barriers. The incident occurred with just two minutes left in the Group A practice session.

“I just got loose entering (Turn) 8 and over-corrected and got the right-front into the wall,” Larson was quoted by NASCAR.com. “Just kinda gets bouncy over there and just stepped out on me.”

Larson drove his car back to the garage for repairs, but he will start the race in his backup car. Although the collision didn't appear to be severe, Bob Pockrass revealed that the engine on the #5 HMS Chevy was also damaged. The team had to put the backup engine in the reserve car.

With Kyle Larson starting at the rear of the field, it will be hard for the #5 team to score stage points. However, Larson sees a silver lining with his starting position as he outlined his strategy for Sunday's race saying:

“Well, I don’t think you can go for stage points from 40th. So I mean the silver lining may be that you can shorten the stages and get your track position that way to be up front for the end of the race because when you go for stage points, you’re restarting like 26th or worse every time. So I think that’s what would be the plan, I guess, going forward.”

Heading into the elimination race, the 2021 Cup Series champion currently has a 15-point cushion to the cutline, but he is aware that the 2.28-mile track could throw a curveball in Sunday's race, as he found out the hard way last season.

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Kyle Larson answers if he "hates" the Charlotte Roval

This weekend the #5 Hendrick Motorsports driver returns to the track where he got eliminated last season as the defending champion. A mistake late in the race ended Kyle Larson's title hunt, and the same track seems to be haunting him this season.

Fox Sports Bob Pockrass didn't shy away from asking Larson if he hated the track to which the latter replied:

"I don't know... I mean I don't really like the oval. It's just a tough place. I just have had some mistakes here I guess. But still a fun place I enjoy coming to it."

Kyle Larson has reached the victory lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway on two occasions. Both of the race wins came in his title-winning campaign in 2021 when he won the Coca-Cola 600 and went on to conquer the Charlotte Roval later in the playoffs.

Kyle Larson winning at the Roval in 2021

Larson doesn't require a win this Sunday but needs to score solid points in the Bank of America Roval 400.