Rookie Larson crashes Chicagoland Chase party, finishes third
Rookie Kyle Larson barely missed out on being a member of the 16-driver Chase field last week at Richmond International Raceway, but Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway he tried to spoil the Chase party.
Starting 42nd on the field after a practice crash on Saturday, Larson wasted no time working his way through the field in the opening stages of the MyAFibStory.com 400.
Taking two tires on a pit stop on Lap 68, Larson was able to jump into the top five for the first time. For the rest of the race, Larson was a threat for the win as he worked his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet on the high side of the track.
In the closing stages of the race, Larson was in the thick of a drama-filled race for the lead with Chase drivers Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon.
Racing side-by-side with Harvick for the lead after a restart with 18 laps to go, Larson was on the high side when Keselowski slipped through the middle of their battle to take the lead and drive away to the win.
As Keselowski put distance on the field, Larson's battles were far from over. In the closing laps, Larson and four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon raced hard lap after lap for the second spot, as Larson's car flirted with the outside wall around each corner.
When Larson tagged the wall in Turn 2, Gordon was able to take the advantage and drive away with the second spot.
Finishing third, Larson was the highest finishing non-Chase driver in the field.
After their hard-fought battle, the veteran Gordon came up to Larson on pit road to give some advice to the young rookie.
"He was pretty proud of me," Larson said of his conversation with Gordon. "I'm sure there were some things I could have done differently on that restart, he was telling me. I'll definitely know for next time."
Gordon said he was very impressed with Larson's effort.
"I was having a pretty good time watching him and Kevin go at it there in front of me," Gordon said. "I didn't know what was going to happen. I thought for sure there was going to be a wreck. That's just two guys that are wheeling it.
"Just really proud of Kyle Larson. What a great effort. Such a young talent. I really wanted to see him win that race, because I like him, but I didn't want to see those other guys win either."
Leading a total of 20 laps, Larson was as close to his first career Sprint Cup Series win as he has been to date.
"Man, I was so close," he said. "I didn't need that caution there. I was cruising out front and then we got that yellow and I had to battle Harvick really hard there and that allowed Brad to get by both of us. That really ended our shot at a win there. We had one more shot on that last restart there, but just didn't have enough for Brad. He was really good on the bottom. He was about the only car I thought that could get around the bottom all race long.
"I had a lot of fun gripping the wall," he said. "I ran inches off it the whole race, and finally got into it there battling Jeff. Had a really good Target Chevy. For a backup car, that was amazing. This just really shows how tough our team is and how hard they work at the shop preparing great primary cars and backup cars. Just hate that we came up short."
