While Kyle Larson came out with a good points buffer on the cutline after the Las Vegas NASCAR race, he had trouble on pit road and it almost cost him. He can’t afford many more mistakes like having a loose wheel.
When the pressure is on, you have to be perfect. From the pit crew to the driver to the crew chief. Everyone has to be on top of their game at this point in time. If they aren’t, Kyle Larson’s six-win season could be for nothing.
On the Kevin Harvick Happy Hour podcast, Harvick talked about Larson’s problems. He knows what it is like for a pit crew to ruin your day on the track. It is something he has seen time and again this season.
“Well we saw the 11 do the same thing, they had a loose wheel and he got three or four stalls down and Gabehart had him back up and come back to the pit stall because they knew the wheel was loose,” Harvick explained. “I think in this scenario Cliff Daniels and his team did a great job because you can’t have the wheels fall off.”
Harvick continued talking about pit road issues. They are so crucial, especially in the Next Gen car. Make or break pit stops are a very real thing. Kyle Larson knows that because it has cost him in the past.
“I think when you look at these mistakes on pit road, we’ve seen it for years now, and we’ve seen it a lot this year with the teams, and we’ve seen it out of this group,” Harvick said. “The wheel fell off at Texas? Yeah, I think it was Texas. But this happens with everybody’s crew because you’re splitting hairs and you have to drop the jack and you have to have the expectation that the tire changers have done it all precisely and the timing of all that stuff – it just didn’t all sync up right there for them and just caused a pretty major error there. Put them way behind. Had a great race with Ty Gibbs for the Lucky Dog there.”
So, it is one mistake. Big deal. But if that mistake is added onto another and then another – that’s when disaster happens. For now, Kyle Larson is just fine. However, that can change quickly in the NASCAR Playoffs.
