As a top favorite, the 2021 Cup Series Champion had made a grand entry into the season. He remained quite coveted to make a mark in the Bowman Gray Clash. Before this, Kyle Larson’s drive was impressive in all three clashes that happened in Los Angeles. He finished 5th. However, at Bowman Gray, things just did not turn out in his favor.

While he did kick off the Saturday session with a fourth-place finish, slowly he started to lose his grip. Even the car seemed to not live up to the speed needed. In an episode of Actions Detrimental, here’s what Denny Hamlin had to say about Larson and his car. 

Kyle Larson makes it to the Clash in the last chance

Just imagine how one would feel if someone like Larson did not make it to the main event on Sunday. Well, things did unfurl in a way primarily that would have led to Larson not making it to the final drive. Kyle Larson showed promising speed in Saturday’s first practice session, ranking fourth-fastest. However, his performance dropped in the second session, where he fell to 22nd on the speed chart. The qualifying session also did not turn in his favor as the teams started to show signs of struggle with speed.

In the heat race, Larson kicked off from sixth place and just needed one position to walk directly into Sunday’s main event. Larson finished 8th, ensuring he had to walk into the last-chance qualifier. With the assistance of his crew chief, Cliff Daniels, Larson made some modifications to the car. 

Starting from the 10th, Larson faced a tough challenge as only the top two finishers would secure a spot in the Clash. This meant he needed to race aggressively throughout the 75-lap event. Denny Hamlin spoke about how Larson started to drop below expectations. He said, “I thought that it was super aggressive early. When he had Ty Dillon up there and there was Erik Jones up there and they were going at it, it was super messy early. I thought Larson did a great job holding the bottom. He had some good fortune when cars would bounce themselves out of the group and he made it through there and thought he had the best car. He did win the LCQ right, and I was surprised that he didn’t run better in the main”. 

Larson started in the 21st position during the main race, but his car got beat during the LCQ race. Despite the early challenges, Larson remained composed and steadily worked his way through the field, gaining positions one by one. By the halfway break at lap 100, he had climbed to 14th. However, at Lap 102, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe were sent into the field, spinning. Although 98 laps remained, it seemed Larson couldn’t regain his traction.

Speaking of the same, Hamlin said, “I thought when I looked at his car in that race, generally speaking, there wasn’t anyone close to him on speed. He’s got enough laps and he will be able to do something on the mains. I didn’t know I saw him spun out a couple times. Too much damage to his car, maybe? Yeah, I mean, you would think so. His car was destroyed and still it had speed at the end of the LCQ……surprisingly he didn’t make more headway”. 

Larson ended up finishing 17th at the Clash, a number that is a personal downfall in his trajectory. This was a severe blow to his 2019 drive, where he finished 19th out of the 20 cars. Larson’s drive at Bowman Gray wasn’t just the best thing experienced. It started to give me a headache. 

Larson said that the car felt totally “different”

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If Kyle Larson wanted to run at the main event, it was pretty evident he had to make it through the LCQ. In a good run, Larson had topped drivers like Ty Dillon and Erin Jones and moved forward. He ensured he could lead and finally take over in a three-wide pass.

Speaking of how the No. 5 Chevrolet was a blessing that led to the win, Larson said, “My car felt like a totally different race car, so I was happy with that. It really allowed me to get to the front pretty quickly. Hopefully, they can get it repaired here, and we’ll have a decent shot here, I think, in this race”. 

One could see Larson majorly restricted to the inside lanes. Explaining the move, he said, “I thought if I take the outside front row, there’s a higher percentage of a chance that I’m gonna get wiped out whenever I either get down or somebody shoves somebody into me. So I just thought my safest thing was to choose inside second row.”

While the 2025 start wasn’t in his favor, one can hope that soon he will establish his claim back on the tracks.