By Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
Kyle Larson honored to be part of Kyle Busch Memorial
CONCORD, N.C.—Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson shared more than a first name.
There was mutual respect and admiration between the drivers, both two-time NASCAR Cup Series champions.
They also shared the responsibility to nurture the next generation of racers within their own families. Hence, it wasn’t surprising that Larson said he felt honored to be part of the celebration of Busch’s life on Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch died suddenly and unexpectedly in May, less than a week after winning his last NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Dover Motor Speedway.
“It was just an honor to be invited to be a part of it,” said Larson, who appeared on stage during Busch’s memorial. “I thought it went well—super good—listening to everybody’s stories. I thought everybody did a great job honoring Kyle and really just talking about who he was as a person, as a family man, a racer, a competitor.”
After a moving speech by Busch’s widow Samantha, son Brexton, 11, delighted the crowd with a burnout, followed by a deep bow, which had been Busch’s signature victory celebration.
“To cap it off with Brexton doing burnouts was something I don’t think any of us will ever forget,” Larson said. “That was awesome … He just looked like such a mini-Kyle in the car. The onboard was just special—like ‘Here is the next Kyle Busch.’”
Front-row starting spot is a mixed blessing to Chase Briscoe
Winning last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway put Chase Briscoe on the front row for Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
There’s only one problem with that scenario: Kyle Larson, the driver Briscoe is chasing for the championship, is starting from the pole beside him.
“It’s definitely a great start, just because we haven’t gotten to start up front in any of these Chase races because of the metrics, for the most part,” said Briscoe, who is sixth in the Chase standings, 84 points behind first-place Larson. “We’ve been 20th on back. From that standpoint, it’s really good.
“The hard part is, the guy we’re trying to catch for the championship will be beside me, and I need to gain all the points I can on him. If we qualify, maybe he doesn’t qualify up there, but maybe I don’t either. So I’m just taking my second place and going on.
“It’s good—outside of Kyle, everybody else is behind us that I’m racing. But the goal is to be champion, not second or third in points.”
Denny Hamlin has recent history on his side at midpoint of Chase
If Denny Hamlin needs encouragement after a lackluster start to the NASCAR Cup Series Chase presented by Mobil 1, he needs to look no further than his own performance in the regular season.
After falling 129 points behind fellow Toyota driver Tyler Reddick, who drives for the 23XI Racing team he co-owns with Michael Jordan, Hamlin won three straight races in June, overtook Reddick and earned top seeding in the Chase.
Over the first five Chase races, Hamlin has lost the 25-point edge he had to start the postseason—and then some. Currently second in the standings, Hamlin trails Chase leader Kyle Larson by 40 points entering Sunday’s Bank of America 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Hamlin’s bid for a first series title, however, is far from a lost cause.
“We know it can be done,” Hamlin said. “It’s a 10-race season. We got a little head start to that, but it’s a 10-race season. What happened in the first (26 races) doesn’t matter when we come down to these playoffs.
“Anything is possible, and if we go win, we’ll take care of the rest.”
A late-Chase surge wouldn’t be unprecedented. In 2007, Jimmie Johnson won four of the last five Chase races to snatch the title from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon. Four years later, Tony Stewart won three of the last four events to catch Carl Edwards and win the series championship in a tiebreaker.
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