Kyle Larson crashes out of 300th start

HAMPTON, GA. — He didn’t finish, but Kyle Larson completed his 300th NASCAR Cup Series points-awarding event Sunday in the Ambetter 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Larson started ninth but ultimately finished 31st. Larson crashed while running second behind race leader Aric Almirola, when Almirola had a right-rear tire failure on lap 210.

“There was nowhere to go,” Larson said. “Nobody had been having tire issues, so I wasn’t even expecting the No. 10 to have a tire issue in front of me. Even if I did, I didn’t have time to react.”

Larson has never won at a superspeedway track or draft-dependent track in the Cup Series.

Larson’s highest finish at such tracks was fourth at Talladega in April last year, his only Top-5 finish to date in 36 starts on the three draft-dependent tracks.

“It’s a bummer, just frustrating,” Larson said. “I was finally upfront on this style of race track and still end up with a DNF. I don’t know, just frustrating.”

In 300 races, Larson has amassed 15 poles, 19 wins, 91 Top-5 finishes, 148 Top-10 finishes, 6,699 laps led, and the 2021 series championship. 

Lee Petty was the first driver to hit the 300-start mark in 1958 with his 13th start of the year at Old Dominion Speedway.

The next active driver who could make their 300th start this season is Ryan Blaney, who has made 275 starts.