MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
CONSUMERS ENERGY 400
TEAM CHEVY BREAKOUT SESSION
AUGUST 9, 2019
KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 MCDONALD’S CAMARO ZL1 BREAKOUT SESSION HIGHLIGHTS:
AT SOME POINT, WOULD YOU LOVE TO HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO JUST RUN FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP UNENCUMBERED?
“I look forward to that day. I know it will happen, just don’t know when. 2031, that’s 12 years from now. I’ll have as long of a Cup career as Tony Stewart did and I’ll still be in my mid-30s. I’ll be fine.”
WHEN YOU RACE THESE OTHER FORMS OF RACING DOES IT TAKE AWAY FROM WHAT YOU DO AT GANASSI? IT RESURFACES THAT YOU’RE WORE OUT, ETC.
“I just that’s fans assuming stuff. The way I view it is the often I get to race the better I’m becoming, so I would race every single day of the week if I could and I believe it would help me. I think people could look at early in my career in Cup and say, ‘Oh, he ran bad on Sundays because h’s not focused.’ Then, all of a sudden, when we got our cars better I was still racing more Sprint Car races and now it’s ‘Oh, it’s because he’s racing all the time.’ My schedule didn’t change. I think media and the fans and some people on the teams look too deep into it and assume their own opinion. All that matters to me is that it makes me better. My team understands that. In 2017, we had that really good year and I think that rally convinced them that it really doesn’t hurt when I go race Sprint Cars.”
ARE YOU DOING THE BC 39 RACE AT INDY?
“Yea, I’ll do that this year. I didn’t do it last year. I was worried about a flight delay or anything like that.”
YOU’RE VIEWED AS ONE OF THE ONES WHO RUNS UP HIGH AT THIS TRACK. WHERE DO YOU THINK THE GROOVE WILL BE?
“I think if it was a few feet lower it would be a lot easier to go up there and try it out. Tomorrow you might get some guys who venture up there. I think you’ll be able to try in (Turns) 3 and 4 first and then maybe if it’s gripped up enough it will give you confidence to try it in 1 and 2. We’ll see. I know everybody thinks I’ll be the first to go to the top but I don’t ever think I am. I just wait for other people to try it and just typically go a little faster than they do up there. I think it’s a few feet too high, but we’ll see once we get out there and race on it.”
WHY WOULD YOU TRY 3 AND 4 FIRST?
“I got a sense today in practice you go up to speed really close to it and even in the race earlier this year we were running that high – we could run that high – and I drove around some people, so I already know it’s equal up there. At least I feel like I’ll try it in 3 and 4 more before 1 and 2. Something tells me we should try that first.”
BRISTOL IS COMING UP NEXT WEEK AND YOU’VE HAD A GREAT RUN OF TOP-10 FINISHES. WHAT IS IT ABOUT BRISTOL AND YOU THAT JUST CLICKS?
“It just feels like a dirt track and how you would race a dirt car. It’s just really aggressive and you can move around and it just suits my driving style. I love it; it’s my favorite track by far so that helps.”
WITH THE PLAYOFFS LOOMING, DO YOU PREPARE DIFFERENTLY FOR THIS RACE?
“I honestly don’t do anything differently. We’ve just run well here. The race here earlier this year our pit strategy didn’t work out. We lost a ton of track position at the end, but I ran inside the top five or six once I got up there all race basically. And I feel like our cars are a lot better now than they were then, so I look forward to the race on Sunday and hopefully we can have a good shot.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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