Kyle Larson meets with the media at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway prior to the Brickyard 400. [John Wiedemann Photo]
By Dan Margetta
Speedway, Ind., July 22 — Coming off back to back weekends where he started last and drove through the field to finish second, Kyle Larson hopes to continue his momentum in the prestigious Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400 Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Following the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice sessions on Saturday, Larson took some time to meet with the media and discuss his thoughts heading into the crown jewel event.
“Winning Indy would be awesome, “Larson said, “I’ve ran good every time I’ve been here, I think in the top six or eight in the three races I’ve ran. I have always had the speed and I’m real excited about this weekend because we’ve got more speed than we’ve ever had anywhere.”
Practice didn’t go quite like I hoped, especially in qualifying trim because we weren’t very good but we’ll work on it some and get better, “Larson continued,” We typically race better than we practice.”
While most drivers have expressed the difficulty of passing at Indianapolis, Larson isn’t as concerned.
“Qualifying is always important, especially at Indy because it is so tough to pass but I think if you look at the last two weekends, those were some of the hardest tracks to pass at as well and we had to start last in both of those and made our way to the top five pretty quickly, “Larson said, “I think if you have a good car you will be able to pass, you can get underneath them and pass them pretty easy.”
Larson’s strong season in which he has already won and enters the Brickyard 400 in second place in the Monster Energy Cup standings has left him feeling confident which has been key to his success.
“My confidence has definitely been high all season in all forms of racing that I’ve done I feel like I’ve got a shot to win in any type of car I race at any track, “Larson explained, “It’s been a fun summer already just from all the races that I’ve won and ran in the top two as I’ve had a lot of second place finishes also.
“Confidence is big in anything in life and when you’ve got that it’s kind of hard to stop it so I feel our team is really confident right now even with all the tech issues we’ve had the last few weeks, “Larson continued, “We’re still as confident as ever and I think it shows on the race track.”
Larson is one of many younger drivers beginning to gain their footing in NASCAR’s elite series and he welcomes the challenges that come with his new found leadership status.
“There is definitely a huge youth movement coming in and its neat to see as it’s a great opportunity for us young guys to kind of try and do our part to help the sport out, “ Larson stated, “Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and others have done so much to get the sport where it is now for my generation and now we’ve got a great crop of young guys in the Cup series and another eight or ten below us racing trucks and Xfinity just waiting for more rides to open up.”
“It’s a fun time and I feel like we’re all ready to take over in a way and lead the sport and I’m looking forward to it.”