It’s a good thing Kyle Larson enjoys the shifting challenges presented by New Hampshire Motor Speedway, because he’ll need all his skills to salvage a strong finish after starting from the rear in Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
In Saturday morning practice at the Magic Mile, Larson locked up the brakes on his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet entering Turn 1 and slammed into the outside wall. Damage to the right front of the car dictated a switch to a backup for Sunday’s race.
“I just locked up the brakes,” Larson said. “Simple as that—locked ‘em up.”
Because he will be driving a backup car, Larson must give up the 15th-place starting spot he earned during time trials on Friday and drop to the rear of the field for the beginning of the race. That will give him plenty of opportunity to test his talent as he tries to move forward.
It will also test his team’s ability to keep up with a track that changes throughout the 301-lap event.
“It’s a fun place because it’s definitely changing quite a bit,” Larson said. “There is a lot of VHT (traction compound) put down at this track and, with it being flatter, I also feel like it wears out more so than other race tracks.
“That’s fun to keep up with, especially during the race where you have to adjust your line throughout the race to keep up with the changing track conditions. I think, being a dirt-track guy, that benefits me a little bit.”
Given his starting spot in the relatively short race, Larson will need all the help he can get.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.