NASCAR News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Larson ‘wasn’t surprised’ by Kevin Harvick agreeing to All-Star Race deal

Originally posted on 5 GOATs | By Jonathan Howard | Last updated 4/29/24

Due to his Indy 500 obligations, Kyle Larson will not practice at the NASCAR All-Star Race, but Kevin Harvick is set to fill in. Harvick is coming back to the Cup Series for one session, helping the No. 5 team get dialed in while Larson qualifies for the 500.

Harvick is going to step back out of the booth, practice in the No. 5 car at North Wilkesboro, then hop back in the booth. We won’t see him race in the heats or anything like that.

Still, it is a cool moment. It will be one of those trivia questions diehard NASCAR fans will love to bring up. “Did you know Kyle Larson was replaced at North Wilkesboro by Kevin Harvick for a practice session?”

Larson talked about it after the race on Sunday and he is excited about Harvick joining the team. It will be a lot of fun for fans and The Closer himself.

“I wasn’t surprised that he said yes or whatever just because who wouldn’t want to say they got to drive a Hendrick Motorsports Cup car?” Larson said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “So no I wasn’t surprised, but just happy. I know there’s a lot of kinda hoops probably to jump through kind of on everybody’s part. I’m excited to have him be a part of our team for a practice session, and get to kind of see how we work a little bit and hopefully work with Cliff to get our car even better.”

As for who is more intense, Harvick or Cliff, Larson has his answer.

“I mean, I haven’t been around Harvick. I think Harvick has softened up with age, so I would say Cliff for sure, probably.”

Kyle Larson on whether he was surprised Kevin Harvick agreed to practice for him for the all-star race … and who is more intense — Kevin Harvick or Cliff Daniels? pic.twitter.com/pHZDwfdpR0
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 29, 2024

Kyle Larson comes up short at Dover

Despite a hard charge at the end of the race, Kyle Larson was not able to make a move on Denny Hamlin at the end of the Wurth 400. Larson won a stage, and ran up front for a lot of the afternoon, but it just wasn’t enough.

More so than ever before, the pit crews matter. These crews are able to help drivers jump the running order. Hamlin has now won all of his races this season following a quick pit stop. He has either maintained his lead or taken the lead late on a good stop.

Larson commented after the race about air blocking. It appears that is the next topic of discussion in NASCAR now. We have gone from how great the first two weeks were, to being reminded the short tracks are lacking, to arguing horsepower, then tires, then back to horsepower. So, we’re now at aero.

Kyle Larson wants to see NASCAR get rid of the rearview cameras and just leave drivers with the old mirror. If drivers can’t look at the camera and see where the other car is, they can’t air block as well. As it stands, drivers out front are able to block air on other cars too easily. But are the cameras to blame?

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: