By Holly Cain & Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
It’s business as usual for Kyle Larson with NASCAR Cup title within reach
HOMESTEAD, Fla.— Kyle Larson arrives in South Florida on the verge of becoming only the 10th driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to win three championships or more and the first to claim back-to-back trophies since a fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver, Jimmie Johnson, won an unprecedented five consecutively from 2006 through 2010.
But first the 33-year-old Californian Larson must do the work to earn those important honors, and he’s head-down, priority-driven coming into the weekend.
Larson represented the NASCAR Cup Series portion of Championship Media Day alone on stage, thanks to a huge gap separating him from the only two drivers with a mathematical long-shot chance of overcoming Larson’s odds.
He leads Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell by 67 points and JGR’s Denny Hamlin by 70 coming to 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway, where Larson is the defending winner—having taken the trophy last March.
“I’m solo, which is a great thing, but I’ll be honest, it’s an awkward sort of media day for me,’’ Larson acknowledged with a grin. “But we’ve earned the right for it be awkward. I like awkwardness. I’m okay with it, so it’s all right.”
As for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), Larson insists he’s not taking anything for granted but instead is taking a conscious approach to race hard and earn not just the season title but the race trophy. Earning eight points in the opening stage of the race, for instance, would secure the title. That’s the tally he needs.
“I foresee my race looking like any other Homestead race for me, try to get to the front and manage the race from there,” Larson said. “Hopefully, the first stage goes well, and then you can really just race ‘free’ after that. I still don’t think it’ll change the approach of the race, just less worry at that point.”
And should he clinch the championship early in the race, he added—with a smile—of his crew chief Cliff Daniels, “Knowing Cliff, I’m sure he’ll be locked in, ‘Hey man here’s what just happened, stay locked in, we’ll take four tires here.’
“I hope that’s ‘robot Cliff’ on the radio and we can just stay locked in. I want to have a great day. I want to win the race and the championship. I’m trying not to think ahead and just approach the weekend like any other weekend and just do the job.” — Holly Cain
Chase leader Justin Allgaier happy with decision to stick around
During a banner season with the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team, Justin Allgaier is delighted he decided not to leave NASCAR racing last year—but it was a close call.
“I don’t think the general public will know how close I was to really walking away,” Allgaier said Thursday during Championship Media Day at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“We bought a house in Illinois. We were making after-racing-career plans. I was a hundred percent sure that this was it, that this would be the end of my career.”
It would have been, if JRM co-owners Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kelley Earnhardt Miller hadn’t talked Allgaier into a contract extension that will keep him with the team at least through the 2028 season.
The move proved serendipitous. Allgaier won six of the first 21 races this season and held a 229-point lead before points were reset for the nine-race Chase.
With last Saturday’s second-place finish at Martinsville Speedway, Allgaier took the Chase lead by 22 points over defending series champion Jesse Love, who suffered a litany of issues at the venerable short track and finished 30th.
In addition to Allgaier and Love, there are three other drivers within striking distance of the title—Corey Day (23 points back), Carson Kvapil (31 behind) and Sheldon Creed (42 behind)—entering Saturday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Championship Race (5 p.m. ET on CW, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
To Allgaier, retaking the Chase lead from Love wasn’t crucial, given the relatively small margin.
“I went over to Jesse at the end of last week,” Allgaier said. “I think at first he thought I was messing with him, but I really was genuine in the fact that I hated it for him. I hated to see their day go the way that it did…
“I hate the situation ‘cause I know that this week it could easily be the same for us or any one of the top five. I’ve had a lot of fun battling all of these guys. I’ve had the most fun racing this year probably that I’ve ever had.”
Allgaier feels that his willingness to step away from racing and decision to return have had a positive effect on his psyche.
“I’m probably the freest, loosest, confident enough that I’ve been all year,” he said. “There’s just been something different this year for me. Maybe it was because I was walking away, so I looked at different ways to value the sport that maybe I hadn’t looked at.
“But I have more confidence in my race team than I can describe. The pit crew’s been on fire lately. This whole team has just operated at a really high level. Eddie D’Hondt, my spotter, and I have a great relationship.
“All the things that you want to be going your way have been going that direction. And, honestly, if we execute how we know we can, there’s no doubt in my mind that we can’t go win both stages and win the race.” — Reid Spencer
Head-to-head battle brings drama to NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series title race
Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs agree on two fundamental things.
First, it’s entirely appropriate for the two drivers to settle the championship between them in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Second, to win the championship, Honeycutt and Riggs both believe they will have to win the race.
“I think we’ve had a great season for both of us,” said Honeycutt, who leads Riggs by 20 points entering Friday’s finale.
Honeycutt drives the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota that carried Corey Heim to last year’s series title under the elimination format.
“I think, for, me, I was just trying to adapt early on in the season with this group and to have the trucks handling where I needed to be at. I think our mile-and-a-half program has been extremely well throughout this year.
“So, looking forward to Friday night and see if we can cap this thing off.”
Riggs thinks the change in format to a seven-race Chase has been largely responsible for putting the best two drivers in the series this season in a head-to-head battle in the final race.
“It’s a lot clearer picture for us,” said the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford. “It’s a lot more straightforward. (In the previous elimination format) we still had the potential that the fourth-place guy could in one race outrun us and get the championship.
“I feel like that’s a lot more fluky. I enjoy the format that we’re in. It definitely rewards consistency, which I feel like we haven’t had the best of, which is why we’re not in the points lead. And I think we’ve had more raw speed, but the consistency hasn’t gone with it.”
Friday’s race won’t end the rivalry between the drivers, who will race for the same teams next year. But Honeycutt thinks the pool of potential winners might expand.
“I don’t expect to two-man race next year again,” he said. “I think we’ll have quite a few competitors.” — Reid Spencer
