All-Star Race finish has Kyle Larson ‘super disappointed’

By Kyle Larson’s estimation he had a million reasons to be disappointed following Saturday night’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

With fresh tires and the laps dwindling, Larson was running first and seemingly poised to win the $1 million that went to the winner. Then, that apparent breakthrough victory went poof into the North Carolina sky.

Joey Logano, with equally fresh tires, had slowly closed on Larson and with three laps remaining he pulled to the inside of Larson on the backstretch. The two stayed that way through Turns 3 and 4 and down the frontstretch and into Turn 1. But Larson went into the corner too hard and slid up the track and pancaked the outside wall; Logano would go on to take the win, while Larson sustained significant damage and fell to 16th.

“I was just going fast, got loose, lost control and hit the wall,” Larson said. “I’m disappointed. ... This will be hard to get over.”

Larson, 23, is in his third full season and his talent has drawn comparisons to multi-time Cup Series champions Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. But though he’s come close on several occasions, Larson remains winless in 88 starts. He had to race his way into the main event via a preliminary event earlier Saturday, a race he won in a slam-bam finish over Chase Elliott.

How the Sprint Showdown concluded required Larson’s Chip Ganassi Racing team to scramble and make significant repairs to the No. 42 Chevrolet. Larson hoped to reward his crew with an All-Star Race win, and when he failed to do so it provoked his discontent post-race.

“I’m super disappointed,” Larson said. “I hate that I keep letting my team down, they did everything right. They worked their tails off after I got all the damage in the Showdown.

“It’s been fun recently to run up front and contend for wins. I just have to figure out how to do it.”

But just as what occurred when Larson finished a close second to Matt Kenseth a week ago at Dover International Speedway, his performance Saturday night elicited praise. Gordon, now retired and who called the All-Star Race as a Fox analyst, effusively applauded Larson for his effort. And he was not the only one.

“He’s a heck of a racer,” Logano said. “He’s gonna win a lot of races, that’s for sure, and it’s fun to race against him. It’s fun to see the youth in this sport.”