Kyle Larson has proven to be a race-winning contender on every type of track in NASCAR except one.
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Superspeedways seem to be his kryptonite. The Daytona 500 hasn't been too particularly kind to Larson as he has been in position to win late in the race only to have something out of his control knock him out.
Larson admitted this week to Kelly Crandall from Racer.com that he has been doing a lot of homework preparing for Sunday's Daytona 500, studying video tapes of past races to see what he might learn from himself and his competitors to earn his first 500 victory.
"I feel like we do a good job," Larson said. "Looking at the results on paper, we suck, but I really feel like I'm just a small decision away from making the right move and putting myself in the right spot there at the very end. I feel like I do a good job getting us to that point where so many times on the final restart we're lined up on the first, second, third row and then I finish 28th. DNF'd and crashed in the care center. And every circumstance is different, right? I feel like we're not far off from being really successful here. (We've) just got to keep getting after it."
Larson was third when the white flag flew in the 2023 Daytona 500, right behind eventual winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He went to the No. 47's outside, which put him in the middle of Stenhouse and Joey Logano The run didn't work, he dropped back and ended up in a wreck in turn one.
Larson was credited with an 18th-place finish, his second DNF since becoming the driver of the No. 5 car at Hendrick Motorsports in 2021.
Hendrick Motorsports hasn't won a Daytona 500 since 2014, though several times one its cars was running up front in the closing laps but didn't get the checkered flag.
Larson's closest chance at winning the Daytona 500 was in 2017. He led at the white flag only to run out of fuel on the back straightaway.
Superspeedway racing takes a lot of luck, and for most of Larson's career he hasn't had it. Sunday could be different though, as Hendrick Motorsports has fast cars for this race.
Larson seems to be the most focused on trying to deliver a Daytona 500 win than ever before. Time will tell if he can get his third crown-jewel win.
