CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Larson enters the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs as the No. 1 seed thanks to the number of playoff points he has accumulated this season.
But during Wednesday’s media day function, Larson didn’t sound like a driver who felt like the favorite to win the title at the end of a 10-week stretch.
Larson, the winner of the 2021 Cup Series title, won four races in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the regular season.
Larson said speed is his team’s strength, but acknowledged it was a long summer for the team.
“I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint one strength because I feel like we have a lot of strengths. Speed is always one, for sure,” Larson said. “We’ve just been through a lot throughout the summer. I think we’ve seen a lot of different things and we’re prepared for almost anything. I think we’re looking forward to the challenge of these next 10 and, hopefully, we can execute on a high level.”
Larson said his team ended the regular season strongly with good finishes at Richmond Raceway and Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“I would love to have been leading a bunch of laps, but Richmond’s not really the place that we’re going to go lead laps anyways and Daytona’s just a different style race,” Larson said. “But it still was good to get two solid finishes in a row and get through another superspeedway without a crash.
“And then, it leads into Darlington, which is a great track for us. So yeah, I look forward to getting the playoffs started. I think our team has been through a lot. I think we’ve seen a bunch and we’re prepared for a lot of different things.”
