A flat tire caused playoff driver Kyle Larson to spin on the backstretch with seven laps left in Stage 2 during Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Larson, who hasn’t won in 41 races, was running around 10th when his No. 42 Chevrolet spun. He did not make contact, but the incident caused significant damage to the right front of Larson’s car.
Larson received the free pass at the end of Stage 2 and bounced back to finish 11th.
“We just had a terrible race car and were really slow all weekend,” Larson said. “We were able to salvage a decent finish, but the Fords are so fast here and can rack up a lot of stage points. Even when they have a bad day, they still gain points on us. It is what it is. We’ll just go to Kansas and try and win.”
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver entered the race 11th on the playoff grid and 12 points behind the cutoff spot.
He remains 11th heading to the elimination race at Kansas Speedway. He is now 26 points behind the cutoff.
Rough weekend for us. Guys worked hard to try and make it faster but couldn’t figure anything out. Able to salvage an okay finish but still in must win mode next week. Glad Kansas has been a good track for us.
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) October 14, 2018