Kyle Larson below Cup playoff cutline after hectic day at Homestead-Miami

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Kyle Larson will now head to Martinsville Speedway seven points below the cutline after a wild race Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. 

Larson finished 13th in Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 400, fighting a race-long uphill battle. On lap 47, he blew a tire and brought out the caution, taking him out of stage points throughout the day. 

“I could tell something was up because, after that green flag stop, I was just clobbering the ground and bouncing a lot so I wasn’t gonna be surprised if I blew a tire. Then, I did,” he said. “Thankfully, we didn’t hit the wall too hard but you’re just driving back to pit road just grinding the bottom of the car off. So I knew I was gonna be bad after that and we were.” 

Larson said he avoided running the wall after the wreck. He said he didn’t want to take an unnecessary risk with underbody damage. It stalled him deep in the field.

In the final stage, Larson awoke. He recommitting to the top line and clawed his way back into contention for the win. He set himself up for what was supposed to be the battle for the win between him and Ryan Blaney.

Larson got what he thought was his best chance to pass Blaney as the two approached the lap car of Austin Dillon. Dillon left room for Larson and Blaney but Larson took the gap that Dillon left between him and Blaney. Larson hit the right side of Blaney’s No.12 car and spun himself out. 

“I’m proud of myself for driving my ass off to get up there and have a shot because we shouldn’t have,” Larson said. “Then, racing for the lead there, I just couldn’t quite get close enough to Ryan and finally got my chance to get close. I didn’t really know what to do. I was coming with a head of steam and was hoping [Dillon] would kinda leave me the lane against the wall but he ran his lane.” 

Now heading to Martinsville, it’s not a must win for the No. 5 team. At seven points below the cutline, Larson will need to run well and collect stage points to give himself a shot on points.

“It’s not my best track but it’s been a lot better for me the last few years since joining Hendrick,” Larson said. “It’ll be tough but I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully going there and having a solid weekend.”