NASCAR CUP SERIES
CHARLOTTE ROVAL
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
OCTOBER 4, 2025
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. Larson – a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the ROVAL – returns to the 2.28-mile circuit as the track’s defending winner.
Media Availability Quotes:
Have you seen the tire packs there in Turns Seven and 17? How much of an impact do you think they’ll have on how you drive the course, if any?
“Yeah, I mean I watched the truck race yesterday. I don’t know… I don’t really remember anybody really clipping them, so I would say that they’re in a good place. But yeah, we’ll see once we get out there. I think it’ll be nice over on the frontstretch. You can have some sort of visual reference now, I feel like, which will be good.
And then, yeah, I think the hairpin over there, it would just probably make things feel a bit more narrow and maybe a touch less inviting, I would think, for people to kind of dive on when they’re on a restart. I think back before we had the tire pack over there, it just felt like a really wide, kind of apex, corner. And too, last year, we started to kind of cut that corner slightly throughout the race. So yeah, I think the tire pack will keep you from cutting the course over there. We’ll see. I just don’t really know how it’ll be until we’re out there.”
How important is qualifying, but in the ROVAL, specifically?
“Qualifying is extremely important everywhere, but especially on the road courses, I feel like. It’s just really, really hard to pass because we’re all pretty similar, I feel like. Your brake zones are a little bit more in control than we used to have with the old car and all that. So yeah, qualifying has just become way more important at all types of tracks, but especially the road courses.”
As for Charlotte itself, obviously, we all talk about this every time you go anywhere, but it’s your local, home race. How cool is this weekend for the sport?
“Yeah, it’s cool. It’s great to be here at home; sleep in your own bed, drive to the track and drive home. You have a lot of people from the shop that don’t get to go to maybe any race throughout the year that get to come here to Charlotte. I would say the weeks are a little busier because you are at home and they know you’re at home. But it’s still great to be here; you get to have a family here and all that.”
How difficult is this road course compared to road courses that you’ve raced? How would you sort of evaluate it as a racer?
“I don’t know… I mean, every track is unique in its own way. This place is just really bumpy, I would say, especially through one and two. It’s a wore out surface, so drive-off is difficult in the hairpin, the bus stop on the backstretch, the frontstretch of chicane, all of that.
I mean, every track is challenging in its own way. There’s no track that is easy. They’re just all different, so it’s just another different track.”
As a driver, when you’re watching the Truck race or the Xfinity race, how much can you pick up from watching it? How much can you learn from that?
“I don’t know… I feel like a road course race, you’re mostly just watching as a fan. Everybody’s running similar lines and stuff. But I think just seeing areas where people are making moves to pass or how much of a curb that they’re using, stuff like that. So, yeah, you can pick up something every time you watch a race.”
There’s obviously a lot of talk about SVG, being that he’s won the last four. But entering here as the defending winner of the ROVAL, what do you feel like the 5 team was able to find last year, especially on the first year of this configuration, that can translate to year two?
“I think I would say in our Next Gen ROVAL races here, I’ve just never felt comfortable. My car just feels on edge and out of control. Last year, we worked on it a lot and my car balance was really comfortable and it showed for speed. So I’m hopeful that this time around we’ll have that same sort of feel and comfort.
It’s a different tire, though, so I haven’t been good on road courses this year as we’ve changed the tires. So I don’t know what to expect. I hope that we’ll be good, but we’ll find out here shortly.”
How would you evaluate your playoffs up to this point? It’s an elimination race and you’re sitting pretty good points at the moment. Going forward into the next round, what are some things you might need to clean up or do better?
“This round has gone pretty well. I feel like both of the two races have been pretty similar. Really, a few of the races have been similar, where we’ve gotten a lot of stage points and then didn’t finish as high as we had run in the first two stages. But I feel like our speed has gotten better. I feel like we’re executing well. As you get into the next round, it’s time to turn the intensity up and take a little bit more risk and things like that. I feel like our team has quietly been getting better for a while now. I feel like each week, we’re continuing to get better. It’s exciting going to the track and it’s just an exciting time of year right now. It’s fun and hopefully we can keep elevating and be where we need to be come Martinsville.”
This track can always test teams. If something bad happens to the cars, they have to respond. I was just curious, what do you remember about your team and what they did in 2021 when you were dealing with all the battery and alternator issues that you didn’t even think you were going to finish the race and then you won?
“Yeah, so 2021, we had obviously a great season to that point; a ton of playoff points and all that. We weren’t even thinking about being eliminated. There was one point in the race where if we didn’t get it fixed, I think we were going to be right at the cutline or just below. I remember my mindset was just like, man, let’s just get this thing fixed, get a top-20 and leave here and make it through the next round. Our team did a really good job of diagnosing the issue, fixing the issue, and then just executing the day. We had a great car, obviously, too, but we just planned out our race good from there and just made our way forward; had some good restarts and ultimately got the win, which was unbelievable.
That was one of the Cup races that we’ve won where I did not think that we would win, so it was a cool feeling. Kind of a championship sort of thing, a lot like Corey Heim, I feel like, watching him yesterday.”
What do you feel like you do better or can do better than anybody else on the road course?
“I don’t think there’s anything I do better than SVG (laughs)…”
How close do you feel like you are to him?
“I don’t know… I feel like this year, nowhere near him. I think that’s a lot due to the tire change and just my driving style, maybe I’m guessing, but just being overly aggressive in a way of how you load the tire and slip and stuff. I’ve just been trying to get better this year on the road course stuff. We’ve had great results, I feel like my whole career on road courses, so I definitely don’t feel bad. But it’s just a combination of things, I think.
Same as ovals. Your car has to be good. You have to execute well. I don’t know that there’s one particular thing that I’m better at than anybody else, but I think our team just does a good job and hopefully it’s the same case this week.”
I know the focus is this week, but looking ahead after this week to the next round, you talked about risk taking and the intensity picking up. Can you explain a little bit more about that? Because I guess there was a part of me in the back of my mind with Talladega in that next round that maybe there isn’t as much need for risk taking because of what can happen. Maybe that’s the wrong approach…
“I say risk taking, but you’re still calculating risk, I guess, more. I feel like the first round, especially in our position and the playoff points we had, it’s like, just don’t take yourself out of it. And then make it through this round a little bit of the same.
Then as you get to the Round of Eight, I just feel like you’ve only got one more step to get to race for a championship. Obviously, you don’t want to take too much risk and take yourself out of things, but you also don’t want to be too easy and feel like you give up a spot or two each stage. Or if you have an opportunity for a win, I think it’s good to go for it and all those sorts of things.
I can’t tell you my game plan right now. It’s all kind of circumstantial on where you’re at on the track, where you’re at on points, all that sort of stuff.”
You obviously have an extensive dirt racing background. Other dirt racers have done well on road courses, too. Is there any aspect of racing on dirt that translates to road courses?
“I think for me, I definitely feel like I adapted okay to road course racing, given I had zero experience at it before I came to NASCAR… not even a go-kart or anything. These cars are a little different now, the Next Gen cars, than back when I started. In a sprint car, you have a lot more travel and feel of the car moving around. We’d get on an oval and everything was just so stiff and rigid. But when you get to a road course, things are just floppier. You can feel the tire and feel the suspension. I thought I could feel the car better on a road course and communicate about what I’m feeling and changes and stuff like that better than I could on an oval there for a minute. I think there’s that part of it probably that translated well.”
You don’t race as much on dirt here in the latter part of the NASCAR season. Is that an intentional choice on your part, or is that just simply a product of scheduling?
“Just a product of scheduling. There’s really not any mid-week racing right now. I don’t feel a need to go race in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, on a Friday night; get home here at 2 a.m. and then have to get on track during the playoffs. A little bit more focus on the playoffs, but also scheduling just doesn’t work out.”
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