Kyle Larson Takes a Cheeky Dig at Carson Hocevar Who Almost Ruined His Championship Dream at Martinsville

Hendrick Motorsports star racer Kyle Larson has shared his thoughts on tense moments from the Martinsville R-8 finale.

Kyle Larson Takes a Cheeky Dig at Carson Hocevar Who Almost Ruined His Championship Dream at Martinsville

Carson Hocevar and Kyle Larson (Via IMAGO)

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Hendrick Motorsports star driver Kyle Lasron came into the NASCAR Cup Series race at with one goal, outrace Joe Gibbs Racing racer Christopher Bell. He was able pull it, as he secured the championship spot by earning eight more points than the No:20 Toyota athlete. But his Chevy teammate Carson Hocevar almost cost him the promotion multiple times in the race.

It had to do with Carson Hocevar being involved in two separate incident that caused caution, one which where the No:5 Chevy of Kyle Larson almost wrecking into the spun out No:77 Chevy. The caution allowed Christopher Bell to close the gap on him, and on his post-race interview the HMS driver took a sly dig at the young racer.

You know, a couple of times I just wanted it to stay green. Then, you know, the 77 [Carson Hocevar] was in like, every caution tonight.

Kyle Larson told NBC Sports post-race.

Further talking about the point, he highlighted how despite having fast cars, he was afraid of the mess that usually occurs in the restarts. He was doing everything he could to avoid the mess; by taking advantage of the track position advantage, he gained throughout the race. If not for that, the Hocevar incident would’ve ruined his title hopes.

I just, restarts, I felt good about my car on restarts, but you just never know how the aggression is going to pick up, and everybody’s ‘give a s**t’ factor goes out the window there. So, um, but we had good enough track position all day. We were kinda out of the, you know, mess, I guess. Yeah, that was good.

Kyle Larson added.

Kyle Larson is happy to see HMS driver in the victory lane and Penske racers fails

In a separate interview after the race, Kyle Larson shared his thoughts on his teammate William Byron winning and how the whole race played out. He was impressed with how strong HMS performed as it gives them a much-needed momentum going into the season finale at Phoenix.

Ryan Blaney confronting Kyle Larson after Gateway crash (via Getty)
Ryan Blaney confronting Kyle Larson after Gateway crash (via nascar.com)

I was obviously happy to see William [Byron] win, just because we know how strong they are there. We don’t know if they are going to be that strong next week or not, but based on the past, I’d say they’re going to be fast.

Kyle Larson said.

He then shared his relief about seeing both Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney failing to win the race. If either of the Penske racers made it into the final four, they would have undoubtedly the favorite considering their past at the track. This now open the door four all the contenders to be triumphant on Sunday.

I really couldn’t tell you who would be the favorite now. If Blaney had won, we all would say he is the favorite. So, yeah, we will see.

Kyle Larson added.

The veteran racer later also shared that he is in a pretty strong position at the moment, in terms of pace and momentum ahead of the finale. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout in the HMS vs JGR battle on Sunday.

Also Read: “We Weren’t Good Enough!” Christopher Bell Sulks Over Martinsville R-8 Elimination