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Kyle Larson Reveals How Chat With Chase Elliott Went After Controversial Move At The Glen
Kyle Larson admits he should have shown "a little more respect" after bumping teammate Chase Elliott after a restart to take the lead at Watkins Glen.
Following his bold maneuver Sunday against his own teammate and fellow “Race For The Championship” co-star, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson says the post-race conversation they had went about as well as possible with all things considered.
Larson ended up taking the first position in the final five laps of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen when, after a restart, made contact with Elliott, who'd maintained the lead for most of the race, and passed him. The nail-biting moment also allowed AJ Allmendinger and Joey Logano to pass Elliott, bumping him down to the fourth position.
While Larson celebrated the victory, Elliott seemed visibly upset on pit road, despite maintaining composure both on the radio and with the press after the race.
Still, Larson anticipated an interesting team discussion at the Hendricks Motorsport headquarters on Monday, and he told NASCAR.com that’s exactly what he got.
“I wish things would have I guess played out differently and Monday would have been a lot better for me,” Larson told reporters Tuesday. “It was productive. In the end, it was positive to have that talk. I’m ready to just move on from it and look forward to Daytona and on into the playoffs.”
He added that, during the team meeting, it was Elliott doing most of the talking while he sat there taking it all in. Larson previously noted after the race that he wasn’t proud of the move he made to cliche the first position finish, so it seems he was fine to take any licks he had coming from his teammate.
Fortunately, the maneuver didn’t hurt anyone’s overall standing within the NASCAR Cup Series too badly. Elliott still walked away as the regular season champion along with the bonus points that go with it. Larson, meanwhile, earned his second victory of the season.
With it all said and done, the driver seems confident that Elliott made his point and, more importantly, he’s learned a lesson.
“One thing is for sure, we all like to win. We try really hard to do that,” Larson concluded. “In the end, I probably should have a little more respect next time.”
Both drivers are among the crop of 2022 NASCAR Cup Series racers who will be featured on the upcoming USA Network documentary series “Race For The Championship,” which premieres on Sept. 1.
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