Kyle Larson “Schooled” by Frenemy William Byron Amidst Failure to Honor Rick Hendrick at “Sketchy” Martinsville

Yet another bummer for Kyle Larson. Even after dominating nearly the most laps in the early stages, he ended up finishing in second place. But, well, at least it was still a stellar day for the Hendrick Motorsports crew, especially with them celebrating their 40th. The team couldn’t have asked for a better anniversary present, with their drivers finishing in the top three spots.

And get this: It was the first time ever at Martinsville, a track steeped in racing history, that one team locked down the entire podium. Larson might have been a tad bummed about finishing behind his buddy-slash-rival William Byron, but it seems like he was more stoked about making it a memorable day for HMS.

Kyle Larson had a hunch that William Byron was going to come at him hard

Larson had his second NASCAR Cup Series pole in a row on Saturday, nailing a killer lap time right at the end of qualifying. And even during the actual race, he led the pack for all 80 laps of Stage 1 but then dropped to second in Stage 2, thanks to Denny Hamlin, and eventually lost the race to his teammate William Byron.

Chewing over the race afterward, Larson was like, “No doubt it’s really special too to get a 1-2-3 there with… William, Chase, and I, so. Um, Yeah, just a great day for Hendrick Motorsports. It’s been a great 40 seasons for them. Really cool to have you have 1500 people here from Hendrick Motorsports to celebrate. And Congrats William, he did it, he did a really good job. Kind of schooled us all thereafter that green flag stopped me did a really good job passing all of us.”

But down to those last few laps, Larson figured things might turn rough. With him, Chase Elliott, and William Byron leading the charge, he was still uncertain about whether the other two might dial up the aggression as they neared the finish line.

Larson broke it down: “Yeah, no, it was sketchy. I wasn’t sure how aggressive they were gonna be. I knew William. Obviously. was gonna be very aggressive because… he was going to win until that caution came out. He went out and drove it a little bit and then they all kind of just shook out and were able to get one spot there and get the top three for HMS.”

Up until the final lap, it seemed like we might see some fireworks, especially if Denny Hamlin decided to get frisky and bump Larson into Byron, hoping to sneak a win for JGR. But then, with just three laps left, John Hunter Nemechek’s car decided to light up its tires, throwing everyone for a loop, thinking this could shake up the lead.

But Hamlin threw everyone a shocker by pitting during the caution, dropping to 10th, and basically leaving it to the HMS crew to duke it out. And on the team’s 40th, you know they weren’t about to let Rick Hendrick down. Yet, Larson didn’t miss a chance to point it out, like he’s been saying about the speed of the cars.

#5 talks about the speed of the cars

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Imagine if the race had cars with different horsepower, kind of like the old days, or even just a bit more varied. That might have given Larson a leg up somehow. Even though he was leading at the start, once he lost his spot, getting back to the front became a tall order without being able to overtake.

Larson gave props to Denny Hamlin, mentioning he kept a solid pace and maneuvered through traffic like a pro, admitting his own ride was pretty sweet too. But he laid it out, “I think we’re all kind of the same speed on Honestly, so… Just… lost a little bit of a little bit of track dish in there in the second stage and just was never kind of able to overcome it. But a solid day. Congrats to Rick Hendrick. Linda. All of Hendrick Motorsports. Everybody’s here at the racetrack as well as back at home. Um, just awesome day.”

Read More: Kyle Larson Asserts the Significance of Qualifying as Next Gen Continues to Struggle on Short Tracks

While Larson’s already bagged a win this season, punching his ticket to the playoffs, snagging a couple more victories before the postseason sure wouldn’t hurt, right?