“He did put a lot of weight on his shoulders,” the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports crew chief said after the Charlotte race. After failing to complete the 1,100-mile prestigious Double event in May, Kyle Larson clenched his teeth in determination. He had not turned a single lap at the Coca-Cola 600 due to a rain delay. However, when he returned to the same racetrack for the Bank of America Roval 400, Larson not only completed laps but also picked up the trophy.

To achieve this, Kyle Larson chose to step outside his comfort zone. A racial slur he uttered at a sim racing event in 2020 marked one of the lowest points of his career, leading him to express his dislike for simulators. However, redeeming his Charlotte pride took precedence over that discomfort, motivating Larson to put in the extra effort to dominate the Roval.

Kyle Larson deviates from custom

Initially, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen was expected to take the Cup garage by storm. However, Kyle Larson bested the Kiwi road course ace, taking the lead on lap 39. He led a race-high 69 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet, finishing ahead of long-time rival Christopher Bell by just 1.511 seconds. This impressive performance was no fluke; Larson put in significant effort to achieve it. He had declared last year that sim racing “doesn’t suit my driving style, my eyes, my brain, my butt.” But holding fiery grit to finally dominate Charlotte Motor Speedway, Larson was prepared to sacrifice his personal preference.

That is what his crew chief emphasized after Kyle Larson won the Charlotte Roval race. Cliff Daniels initially recounted how even he did not want to jitter Larson by enforcing simulator sessions. “Knowing that sometimes he gets there and gets frustrated, I really didn’t want him frustrated at himself coming into the weekend. So as we’re in the simulator…He starts getting really mad at himself, and I keep screwing up…restart it, restart it, restart it. I’m like, hey man. If we’re good, we can just leave, it’s okay. Let’s go over to the racetrack today, we can walk the track. We can talk about it.” 

But this was a different Kyle Larson, as he insisted on the sim training. Daniels said this was a “completely opposite” experience as he “was the one trying to get him out of it. And he was the one who wanted to stay in. What he wanted to get to with his rhythm, with his muscle memory was finding the cadence of hitting each corner, understanding the Sim a little bit more. I don’t know that that would apply to every racetrack, and this racetrack is certainly unique. But he came in with a mission that day to the sim. And certainly, it paid off, so proud of him.”

And this was hardly the first time that simulators benefitted Kyle Larson.

Sim helped to wheel a different racecar

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Kyle Larson made it clear that simulators are not his thing; during an IndyCar sim racing test, he even fell asleep. However, the digital innovation helped him familiarize himself with the unique single-seater, open-cockpit vehicle of an IndyCar. The simulator setup facilitated his adaptation, as the driver-in-the-loop simulator rig and its software were the same platform he used in NASCAR. The sim training happened under GM Motorsports – under which both Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren operate.

So Larson’s IndyCar training was smooth due to the simulator training, as GM executive director of competition Dr. Eric Warren said. “It probably makes it easier because he’s used to the building, and I think that’s probably a big help. That’s helpful in that environment. The steering forces and the car are so different that it’s probably a familiarization with the facility and the people probably really helps.” He also added, “Where the technical center comes in is all of our tools now internally that we’ve built up were used across IndyCar and NASCAR. So a lot of the simulators, all the simulation, and a lot of the same processes we run across both series.”

Evidently, simulators have helped out Kyle Larson even though he does not like them. Now holding six wins under his belt, the HMS driver shows great promise for a 2024 Cup Series title.