NASCAR Roundtable's Tyler Jones goes 1-On-1 with defending NASCAR Champion Kyle Larson ahead of the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway
LEBANON, Tenn. - It has been 37 races since Kyle Larson last went to victory lane. The defending champion hasn’t found what he’s looking for, but it isn’t a secret of why things are the way they are.
Chevrolet introduced a new body this year. The results have not been great to say the least.
At Hendrick Motorsports, the only driver to pull into victory lane this season is Chase Elliott, who won at Martinsville and Texas. Larson, William Byron, and Alex Bowman all remain winless.
For Larson, things could start turning a corner, but he isn’t satisfied.
“Yes we’re making progress. Probably not as quickly as all of us at Hendrick Motorsports would want to make it. The bright thing is, we do see a future where we’re gonna be where we wanna be.”
He continued, “It’s just down in that balance. Right now, the window is so small it seems to hit the balance. We’ll keep learning.”
Despite the winless streak, Larson’s confidence hasn’t wavered.
Larson stated, “I feel like if we hit things, we can win anywhere, just gotta get our car better in a spot where we can contend more consistently.”
As Larson gears up for Nashville Superspeedway, this could be the race that gets the season back on track.
Larson won the inaugural Cup Series race at Nashville in 2021, which was his lone win there. He led 264 of the 300 laps, and took home the checkered flag in dominating fashion.
With that said, Larson knows what it takes to get it done there saying, “A fast car as always, great execution. I know our team will execute good, so hopefully our car will be fast.”
Entering Sunday’s race, the No. 5 team has speed. Larson was seventh quickest in practice, and he’ll be starting fifth.
With a regular season title might be out of the cards with the big lead that Tyler Reddick has built up, Larson still finds himself in a decent position for a strong second half run in the regular season.
He currently sits sixth in points and still has plenty of time to make up ground to put him and his team in a good spot before The Chase.
The confidence is still there. From Nashville on, it is all about putting it together to defend Larson’s title.
If history tells us anything, when Larson’s back is against the wall, he delivers.
