“It Hasn’t Been” – Kyle Larson Hits Back at Common Hendrick Motorsports Misconception About His #5 Team

A defending champion always carries a chip on their shoulder when they begin their title defense. It doesn’t matter what sport it is; we saw Max Verstappen have a lot to prove this year after his title win in 2021. The same pressures and expectations lay on Kyle Larson this season after his NASCAR Cup Series win in 2021.

With the win in 2021, the first thought that came to people’s minds at the start of 2022 was – “Larson should at least be a part of the final 8”. That couldn’t happen. Larson lost out entering the final 8 cut-off by 2 points as he finished 35th at the Charlotte Roval.

From one of American motorsports’ most dominating and greatest seasons in 2021 where he amassed 10 wins, to not being able to race in the Championship Race – it was obvious there’ll be questions asked. But Larson believes his year has not been bad, contrary to popular opinion. 

Kyle said, “It’s just been a very character-building season and I think there’s a lot of positives that come from the up and downs of this year. And hey, it hasn’t been, it sounds like a disappointing year but it hasn’t been when you look at it. With 3 wins and I think that’s tied for the 2nd most of the year so it’s not been a bad year. But its definitely built us into being a stronger team for sure.”

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NASCAR is one of the toughest sports to accumulate wins and that’s visible from the fact that the most wins this year is 5. It’s impossible to term Kyle Larson’s season as poor in that context. Fans would hope, the young driver will surely be back to his consistent best in the next season.

Kyle Larson makes a comeback after the Bubba Wallace incident

Las Vegas Motor Speedway this year had a lot of fighting and using of fists. The Bubba Wallace-Kyle Larson incident stuck around for quite a while. NASCAR has since taken its decision on the incident.

While Bubba was suspended for one race, Larson made the most of his chance to race the Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was phenomenal, grabbing P1 at the end. He ended up leading for 199 of the 267 (74.5%) laps.

He said afterward, “No matter what team I’ve been with, things haven’t worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today. Definitely, the best run we’ve had all year long. We’ve been capable of it, I feel like many weekends, we just hadn’t quite put it all together. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused.”

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Larson is relatively among the younger crop of drivers in NASCAR. He showed in 2021 that he is amazing. This season might not have clicked every race but there have been glimpses. 2023 should be better.