Kyle Larson Insider Claims “Really Impressive” Toyota’s Unknowns Allowed HMS Star to Outfox Tyler Reddick

NASCAR flagged off the Pennzoil 400 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after exhilarating races at Daytona and Atlanta, both of which showed us some charismatic, drama-filled races on super difficult superspeedway tracks. But as traditional as the Las Vegas track was, it was not devoid of a heart-pumping battle between Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick.

Ford and Toyota released revamped car bodies at the end of last year, generating much hype about their performance on the track. But they failed to outshine Chevrolet in the first two races this season. Citing superspeedway difficulties, they assured fans of their performance. But yet again, Chevrolet snatched the checkered flag under their noses as Kyle Larson snagged his second Las Vegas win.

Kyle Larson stood on Toyota’s shoulders to reach for the juicy apple

Clinching his 24th Cup victory, Larson bathed in cheers and applause. He claimed his first win of the season after swerving his No. 5 Chevrolet to Victory Lane. It marked the 10th win for Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas. But more interestingly, Chevrolet continued its 2024 winning streak without batting an eyelid. 

Well, not exactly. Although Larson dominated through stages 1 and 2, and ultimately won in the end, a tough contender was at his side. Tyler Reddick, driving the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota, did not let Larson take a breather during the race.

In a recent interview with Speedway Digest, crew chief of the No. 5 Cliff Daniels talked about the Chevrolet-Toyota stand-off. At first, he emphasized the power of the Toyota car. “To be honest, I thought the Toyota’s pace was pretty impressive today, like the 45 was really good. Just knowing that their car is different, I would imagine the balance and some of the handling characteristics are a little bit different just from an aero standpoint.”

Then Daniels broached their side of the deal. “I mean, I think one advantage that we probably have right now is just the continuity of what we know of our car,” he said. “We’re going to have to keep evolving pretty quick because the more they start to get their stuff figured out, the gap is going to get closed.”

Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports are regaling in the newfound victory at Las Vegas. But only Kyle Larson knows the nail-biting struggle he led on the track.

Kyle Larson acknowledges Reddick’s break-neck pursuit

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Larson led 181 of 267 laps on the 1.5-mile track, while Kyle Busch led the second most- 18 laps. But after a restart with 27 laps left, Larson had to devote all his energy to holding off Tyler Reddick, who was hot in pursuit of the lead. With only two laps left, Reddick was just shy of 0.143 seconds behind Larson.

Read More: Kyle Larson’s Son Owen Shockingly Branded a ‘Cheater’ as Insider Fuels HMS Foul-Play Fire

“I knew Tyler was going to be the guy to beat from the first stage,” said Larson. “He was really fast there. I was hoping those guys were going to get racing a little bit longer behind me because I felt like it was going to time out where he was running really hard and getting the tow to catch me at the end.”

But thankfully for Larson, his Chevrolet was able to air-block Reddick’s Toyota a little before the victory call was announced.

Chevrolet is dazzling with three shiny medals straight into the 2024 season. Expectations have hiked up regarding how far Chevy can hold up this barricade against Ford and Toyota in the following races.