Kyle Larson had an interesting weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium to say the least.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion entered the weekend as a favorite to win the first Cook Out Clash at the quarter-mile facility. Along with being one of the best overall drivers in the sport, history was on Larson’s side: in the three races held at the Los Angeles Coliseum, another 0.25-mile track, Larson had finished fifth. At the least, it seemed like a top-five was the expectation.
Larson was fourth-quickest in Saturday’s first practice session, but faded to 22nd on the speed chart in the second practice seesion. In qualifying, Larson and the No. 5 team struggled to find any semblance of speed, as Larson qualified 21st.
Then came Larson’s heat race, in which the Elk Grove, California, native started sixth. Larson only needed to gain one spot in order to lock himself into Sunday’s main event, but his Chevrolet refused to handle, resulting in an eighth-place finish that gave Larson a berth in Sunday’s Last-Chance qualifier.
While it’s true that the Clash is only an exhibition, a perennial contender in Larson missing the main event would be nothing short of shocking.
Larson and crew chief Ciff Daniels were given the opportunity to make adjustments before Sunday’s LCQ, where Larson started 10th. In a race where only the top-two finishers would make the field for the Clash, Larson would have to be aggressive and assertive over the course of the 75-lap event.
His case was helped by mistakes from many of his competitors, including Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon. Ty Gibbs was a popular pick to win the LCQ and advance to the Clash, but a costly mistake sent Gibbs back to fourth late in the race. He was unable to recover.
Erik Jones soon became Larson’s top competition for the race lead, but the No. 43 was involved in a crash that took Jones out of contention. This left Larson and Josh Berry to duke it out for the LCQ victory, and while Berry had the lead following a late-race restart, Larson used the chrome horn in order to scoot by and secure the 21st-place starting spot in the Cook Out Clash.
Kyle Larson and Josh Berry advance to the main event! pic.twitter.com/Wf22jd84q9
â FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 3, 2025
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All of a sudden, the No. 5 had come alive.
The main event wouldn’t come without challenges, however. Larson’s beaten and battered car would start deep in the pack, and at such a short track, the possibility of getting lapped early in the race was real.
Despite these setbacks, a calm and collected Larson picked off cars one by one in the first half of the race, moving up to 14th by the time the caution flag flew for the halfway break at lap 100.
Unfortunately, this was as good as things would get for Larson. On lap 102, Larson and Chase Briscoe were both sent spinning through the infield grass in turn three. Even with 98 laps with which to work, Larson was unable to mount a serious charge, ending the race in 17th, one lap down.
Larson’s 17th-place finish is his worst in the Clash since 2019, where he finished 19th out of 20 cars in the second-to-last Clash held on the Daytona oval.
Larson’s weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium was topsy-turvy, but it was a very entertaining look at how one of the best teams in sport handles adversity over the course of a race weekend.
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