"Surprised, he didn't race with me" - Kyle Larson grateful for Kyle Busch's clean racing despite Gateway clash

Kyle Larson revealed that he was surprised Kyle Busch did not battle with him during the Toyota Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway and let him pass. This comes after the two drivers made contact and crashed earlier at Gateway.

The #5 Chevrolet driver added another win to Hendrick Motorsports' tally for this season after bringing his car to victory lane at Sonoma. During the challenging race, there was a brief moment he shared with Kyle Busch while trying to lap him. This could have been a heated moment as he explained speaking to the media, especially after the incident both drivers shared in the earlier race at Sonoma. However, Busch let him pass without a fight.

Reviewing the race, Larson said that Busch races with "respect," and he was surprised that he did not battle at the time.

"I had like, thoughts of, well I guess we'll see where we stand with each other as I was getting closer to him but you know he always races with a lot of respect.(4:05)"

"I was surprised you know he kind of just let me go and you know didn't race with me. But he's very respectful out there and he's very smart about the way he manages his races."

The two drivers did not share such a peaceful race earlier this month during the Enjoy Illinois 300. On the final lap of the second stage, the two battled closely but crashed out after making contact. While Kyle Larson was able to continue, Busch retired from the race.

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Kyle Larson reviews crashing with Busch at Gateway

After the race at Gateway, the #5 Chevy driver looked back at his crash with Kyle Busch. Talking to the media, he stated that while he did not have a discussion with the latter about the incident (up until the point of this conference), he did not have any hard feelings about the crash.

Kyle Larson further mentioned that it was partly his fault in the crash because they would have made it through if he hadn't initiated the contact. He said via FOX: NASCAR on X:

"I look at that one, if I didn’t barely touch his quarter panel to get to a side draft, you know he wouldn’t have gotten upset and start running into me down the straightaway and then crowd me into [Turn] 1. I wasn’t going into 1 to race him and have a d*ck-measuring contest. I was just trying to make it into the corner."

"If I didn’t touch his quarter we would’ve raced fine through 1. So I look at it as probably more of my fault there. I know that I’m the guy that spun but I don’t think that part was all my fault."

After the victory at Sonoma, Kyle Larson regained the lead in the standings. He now has three wins this season and has led the most amount of laps than any other driver (675). His chances of making it to the Playoffs look extremely positive especially after NASCAR gave him a waiver for missing the Charlotte race.