Second in races, first in points
Larson can accept run of near-misses, but latest one stings.
Kyle Larson finished second at Phoenix International Raceway and then headed to the beach for a brief family vacation.
There was no lamenting his third consecutive runner-up finish, because Larson is the points leader in NASCAR’s top series. That’s almost as good as a trip to victory lane.
Larson has finished second in four of the past five Cup races dating to last season’s finale, and he was in contention for victory in the Daytona 500 until he ran out of gas on the final lap and finished 12th. A two-tire pit stop put him in position to win Sunday in overtime, but a slip on the restart cost him any chance of running down leader Ryan Newman in the two-lap sprint to the finish.
“I mean, I guess little mistakes or inexperience or whatever you want to call it,” Larson said. “Hindsight is always 20/20. But I should have went a lane up in (turns) one and two. I should have known to just stay close to Newman. That’s what I wish I would have done.
“But, yeah, it’s weird . ... I finish second like every week. Maybe we’ll turn them into wins soon.”
At this pace, Larson doesn’t need them. His consistency is keeping him up front and in contention for a playoff spot.
Yes, a win just about guarantees a spot in the 16-driver field. But there have not been 16 individual race winners yet in this format, and additional slots go to the highest-ranking drivers in points.
Collecting points is how Newman nearly won the championship two seasons ago despite not winning a race.
Of course, the way he’s running, no one expects Larson to fall short of winning a race for much longer. He has one career victory, but many believe he’d have more if not for his own mistakes and his desire to not ruffle any feathers. Larson wants to run cleanly, so when he found himself bottled with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the restart Sunday, he didn’t force the issue.
Afterward, he admitted letting this win slip away “stings,” but he wasn’t very hard on himself because it’s hard to be disappointed when you’re the points leader.
Larson, 24, is part of the rapidly changing face of NASCAR, in which young drivers are pushing toward the front and passing the veterans. Behind him in the standings are Chase Elliott (third), Joey Logano (fifth) and Ryan Blaney (sixth). At 26, Logano is the oldest of the bunch.
The first month also has been good to Cup rookies Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones.
Suarez finished seventh at Phoenix for Joe Gibbs Racing and Erik Jones was eighth for Furniture Row Racing, the best Cup finishes for both. Suarez has all of four Cup starts to his name, while Jones now has seven. Suarez was aided on the late caution by a two-tire pit stop.
“The guys did an amazing job,” Suarez said. “They just did exactly what they had to do: a fast pit stop, two tires and the car was almost as good as four tires.”
Jones felt like Sunday could be a good day for his team. He tested at the track in early February.
“I think it helped a lot,” Jones said. “It was able to at least give us a good baseline to start with. I think every time we start coming back to these tracks for the second time we’re just going to be that much better and that much stronger. It was a big deal. I hope we test somewhere else this year for sure.”