NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson says he needs to work on his word choice

After apologizing for making his remarks about Hendrick Motorsports cheating, NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson has stated that he needs to work on his word choice.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson ruffled some feathers earlier this week by accusing Hendrick Motorsports of cheating, doing so as a result of the fact that they typically tend to start out NASCAR Cup Series seasons slow before improving throughout the remainder of them. Once again, they started off very slowly this season.

Through the first two races of the 2019 season, none of Hendrick Motorsports’ four drivers have finished a race in the top eight, which was the case last season as well.

Jimmie Johnson is responsible for the team’s lone top 10 finish, as he recorded a ninth place finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, the 61st annual Daytona 500.

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Johnson then finished the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, in 24th place in his #48 Chevrolet.

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott recorded finishes of 17th and 19th place, respectively, in the season’s first two races in his #9 Chevrolet while William Byron recorded finishes of 21st and 17th, respectively, in his #24 Chevrolet.

Alex Bowman has recorded the best average finish (13.0) among the average finishes of the team’s four drivers through the season’s first two races, as he recorded finishes of 11th and 15th, respectively, in his #88 Chevrolet.

Here is what Larson had to say about Hendrick Motorsports cheating when he made his comments about the matter on Monday, according to NBC Sports.

"“Atlanta is so different than any other track that we’re going to go the rest of the year that you can’t jump to conclusions off one week. I feel like Hendrick plays games in a way with NASCAR. I feel like they always start the year off kind of bad to like show NASCAR that they’re being nice and cooperating and following the rules and stuff, and then it gets a couple of months in, and they start cheating and finding some speed.“So I don’t know. But it was satisfying. It’s been satisfying the last few years to be considered the top Chevy team. That’s something that this race shop prides itself on, but we don’t need to be the best Chevy team. We want to be the best team.”"

The 26-year-old Elk Grove, California native then apologized for making these remarks the day after he made them, and he stated that he never meant any harm by them and that he only said what he said in a joking manner. Here is what he had to say in his apology, according to Autosport.

"“I want to apologize to Mr Hendrick and Team Hendrick for the comments I made earlier today. I feel terrible about it. I meant it jokingly, but shouldn’t have implied they are anything but a strong competitor that gets better as the season goes on. I appreciate the engine support we get from them as they are major part of the reason we have been as strong as we are.”"

Now Larson, who has started the 2019 season with finishes of seventh and 12th place, respectively, in the season’s first two races in his #42 Chevrolet, has gone even further and stated that he needs to work on his word choice when making comments in the future. Here is what he had to say about the matter, according to NBC Sports.

"“I think there’s right times to say what’s on your mind and other times I could definitely do a better job of using different words or something that could make things come across a lot better. (Wife) Katelyn would probably be the first person to tell you I’m not the best with my words.“Either way, it hurt some feelings. Hendrick is a partner of ours at Chip Ganassi Racing. We love having their support, and we use their engines. We believe we have the best engines out there. I meant no harm by it. But I regret saying that because they are partners of our race team in a way.“Growing up watching NASCAR, and when it started getting corporate, I didn’t ever want to be like that. You have to be a little bit, but I like being honest. I think fans should appreciate drivers being honest and open, and this is my personality. Yeah, I don’t like sugar-coating stuff. You have to here and there to not hurt feelings or get yourself in trouble, but I like being open.”"

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Do you believe Kyle Larson needs to work on his word choice, or should he feel that he is allowed to state what is on his mind, especially if he is joking about it? Was this particular situation one in which he should have chosen better words, or was what he said alright?

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