Ex-Hendrick Motorsports Spotter TJ Majors Warns Kyle Larson Spotter Amidst Fontana Fallout: “Three Strikes, Better Be Careful”

It has been three races in the 2022 Cup Series season, and Kyle Larson has not been off to a convincing start in his title defense. The 2021 Cup Series champion made a number of mistakes at the Coliseum, Daytona, and at Auto Club. At the last race, Larson and Chase Elliott tangled, and the former attributed it to his spotter not being attentive. Amid criticism from Freddie Kraft, fellow spotter TJ Majors highlighted the relationship between Larson and his spotter.

He said, “Kyle Larson and Tyler Monn don’t go way back. They’re not boys, that wasn’t even his first pick to be his spotter when he got to Hendrick Motorsports. It was his second pick. I totally understand what you’re saying. Here’s the thing, there’s been three mistakes by Kyle Larson, already this year. N0. 1, he wrecked Justin Haley at the Coliseum, when Haley was not to blame for the contact. His spotter could have said, ‘Hey Kyle, he got into you hot, man, easy. He got pushed’. There was obviously not information given, he got wrecked. You’re talking about the championship-winning spotter.”

What other mistakes did Kyle Larson make?

On that day at the Coliseum, William Byron bumped into Haley, who bumped into Larson in turn. The defending champion evidently blamed Haley and punted the unsuspecting driver out of the race. Obviously, Justin Haley was furious and there were plenty of words exchanged. Later on, Larson repented and accepted that he was in the wrong.

Majors continued, “Get to the Daytona 500, he goes in there and ploughs the car in front of him, because he doesn’t know the scenario. That’s on the spotter, I said on podcast this week. Now, here you are, week 3, you’re having your third problem, and your spotter is the problem again. I’m telling you right now, three strikes, better be careful. I don’t think you’ll see this guy stick around for a fourth strike. He better clean it up, especially if he’s going to go in a public platform and go, ‘Hey, I screwed that up’. Kyle’s going on TV, ‘Hey, I screwed that up’. I like Tyler Monn and Kyle Larson, I have no dog in this fight, but I’ve been around long enough to tell you, when you got a problem, these guys will fix it real quick.”

Now, Kyle Larson and his spotter will have to quickly patch things up and work smoothly from now on. For him to successfully retain his title, everything needs to work like a well-oiled machine. So, he and Monn have to find a way to work together seamlessly.

READ MORE: Bubba Wallace’s Spotter Calls Out NASCAR Champ Kyle Larson for “Throwing His Spotter Under the Bus” After Fontana Incident With Hendrick Teammate