NASCAR: Saturday Kansas Notebook
By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
After meeting with Chiefs, Kyle Larson looks for strong run at Kansas
KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Kyle Larson already has made his own impression on Kansas City, but the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet got a thorough baptism into K.C. lore on Friday, when he paid a visit to the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs.
Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Larson met with quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and coach Andy Reid. Larson and Mahomes completed a driver’s suit/jersey exchange.
Both Larson and the Chiefs face important tests on Sunday. Winner of two of the last three races at Kansas Speedway, Larson will try to earn advancement into the Round of 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET (3 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
After a 1-2 start to NFL season, the Chiefs face a formidable Baltimore Ravens team on Sunday.
It was Chiefs general manager Brett Veach who facilitated the visit to the NFL team’s facility during Friday’s practice.
“Brett Veach… I didn’t know it until a couple years ago, but he’s a big fan of mine,” Larson said on Saturday before Cup Series final practice at Kansas Speedway. “He had us out and hosted us earlier this year, and then he was able to line it up again this time. It was really cool. We had (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) out there, and (William Byron’s crew chief) Rudy Fugle is a huge Chiefs fan, so it was really neat to be there.
“We got to sit in the quarterback meeting before the practice, so that was really cool to see how they operate and prep for a practice. That was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it was cool to do that. Everybody there is extremely nice. I think because Brett’s such a big fan and talks about racing a lot, they kind of get it, so it’s cool.”
The only repeat winner in the last 10 races at Kansas, Larson has won three times in that span. He’s third in the series standings, 41 points above the current elimination line.
Interview: Kyle Larson (No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
Denny Hamlin has little to say in aftermath of wreck with Ty Gibbs
Aside from allowing that he and Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Ty Gibbs are “in a good place” after last Sunday’s contentious wreck at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin was loath to provide details of team meetings during the following week.
Hamlin and Gibbs were battling for 11th place at Loudon, with Gibbs stubbornly holding the position. Hamlin, who is in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, had the faster car, but Gibbs, who did not qualify for the postseason, was adept in blocking Hamlin’s progress.
On Lap 110, out of frustration, Hamlin let his No. 11 Toyota drift up the track into the left rear quarter of Gibbs’s Camry. Gibbs spun into the outside wall, his race ruined. Christopher Bell, trailing Hamlin narrowly avoided the wreck involving his two teammates.
“I think they are in a good place,” Hamlin said of the issues with Gibbs. “We had some meetings this week, and they were all productive meetings. The guts of that are going to be confidential…
“All the (Gibbs) drivers had an opportunity to speak and try to come up with a plan. We did our best to come up with one.”
Hamlin did express regret for the wreck itself.
“Certainly, absolutely,” he said. “I definitely got hot under the collar, and it went too far on my end. There (were) things I wish I could have done a little bit differently.”
Toyota driver Bubba Wallace was not as reticent in discussing protocols between teammates—or between drivers for the same manufacturer.
“I think, for the most part, everybody in the field kind of understands the situation, some different from others,” Wallace said. “And the timing of understanding is different from others. As far as Toyota teammates, understanding the JGR layout, we race really, really hard.
“I’ve had conversations with ‘CBell’ this year of how we race together, and we got on the same page. I’ve had conversations with Ty on how we race each other. Looking at all that stuff between the 11 (Hamlin) and the 54 (Gibbs), maybe there’s some underlying stuff that we’re not seeing or races in the past. But talking about it irons things out.”
Interview: Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Tyler Reddick hopes return to 1.5-mile speedway will brighten his Playoff chances
Don’t blame 23XI driver Tyler Reddick if he’s nostalgic about his team’s past performance at Kansas Speedway.
In 2022, when NASCAR transitioned to the Gen 7 car in the NASCAR Cup Series, 23XI swept the two Kansas events, with Kurt Busch winning in the spring and Bubba Wallace in the fall.
After Joe Gibbs Racing driver (and 23XI co-owner) Denny Hamlin triumphed in the spring race of 2023, Reddick put 23 XI in Victory Lane for the third time in four races and Toyota for the fourth straight time.
Since then, Chevrolet drivers—Kyle Larson in particular—have dominated at the track. At 23 points below the current elimination line for the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Playoffs, Reddick needs a turnaround on Sunday.
“We had a stretch here where it was a 23XI Toyota or a Toyota car in general, we had a pretty good record here to be able to win races,” Reddick said. “I look at the last two or three times we’ve been here; we’ve been missing a little bit of something.
“The car changes, the Goodyear tires change, so naturally you’ve got to keep up with it. I think it’s fair to be nervous, there’s a lot that weighs on this weekend that its super important for us to either win or run top-five all day and score a lot of points.”
The return to a 1.5-milespeedway for the first time since the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May is cause for optimism, as far as Reddick is concerned.
“You look at other mile and-a-half tracks this year, and we’ve brought cars capable of winning races at those tracks,” Reddick said. “It’s been since Charlotte Motor Speedway (that) we’ve had a true mile and-a-half race, so there’s been a lot of time for things to change, for people to catch up and people to fall behind.
“I think that just adds to the nerves of the weekend to see how we perform when we get to the race track.”
