Kyle Larson didn’t mince words when he assessed the quality of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Kyle Larson via Noah Lewis YouTube
Larson found himself the victim of circumstances with 51 laps to go in the race. Aric Almirola blew a tire while leading the race.
Larson, who was in 2nd, had no where to go as Almirola spun in front of him. He slammed into the side of Almirola’s car mangling his front end. To make matters worse after plowing into Almirola and ending his day. He came down the track and bounced off Justin Haley’s vehicle and then received a hit from Daniel Suarez as he spun back up the track and then slammed hard into the wall.
https://youtu.be/ua9r9cOSgG8
After exiting the infield care center, Larson shared his thoughts on the race saying, “It was extremely boring until the third stage. And then for whatever reason the bottom lane was starting to make headway. I don’t what changed.”
He continued, “I think you just said the 22 wasn’t in lead, I think he’s got the fastest car so if he ever gets to the lead and can get that middle lane going it kind of just strings things out, makes the bottom too hard to move forward.”
It’s hard to argue with Larson’s assessment of the race. It was extremely boring until the final stage when drivers decided they need to make moves and get track position in order to secure a good finish.
And while the majority of the race was for the most part boring, the finish was quite exciting as Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Corey LaJoie, and Ryan Blaney jockeyed for position and the win.
Keselowski commented on the exciting finish in a post-race interview saying, “The coolest thing about this, Regan, is two veterans showed you can run a race here side-by-side, bump-drafting, and not wreck the field.
“I think that’s the coolest thing,” he reiterated. “It can happen if you race respectfully and I thought everybody did a great job.”
Despite the exciting finish, having the majority of your race being “extremely boring” is not good for NASCAR, and it appears to be symptomatic of pack racing tracks like Atlanta as most of the drivers just ride around biding their time until the end of stages when they can get extra points or have a chance at getting that playoff point.
As far as they are concerned why risk actually racing when there really isn’t anything on the line until those stage breaks and the end of the race.
NASCAR Cup Series field via NASCAR YouTube
What did you make of the race at Atlanta? What do you think of Larson’s assessment?