NASCAR: Kyle Larson penalized ahead of Bristol dirt race
By Asher Fair
Kyle Larson will be forced to start at the back of Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, the first NASCAR Cup Series event on dirt in more than five decades.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series driver who enters this Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race as the clear favorite given his illustrious dirt track racing background and his recent success in the Cup Series, will have to do it the hard way.
Larson is set to start Sunday’s 250-lap race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol Motor Speedway oval in Bristol, Tennessee from the rear of the field.
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This penalty comes as a result of an engine change in his #5 Chevrolet.
Elevated water temperature and subsequent damage to the engine made the change necessary.
Unfortunately, the engine in the No. 5 car has to be changed due to elevated temps and subsequent damage to engine.
— No. 5 Team (@Hendrick5Team) March 26, 2021
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Larson is also set to start his heat race, the first of four 15-lap qualifying sprints for the main event, from the rear after having been slated to start in second place. No matter where he finishes in this race, that will not change the fact that he will have to come through the field on Sunday to win.
Through the first six races of the 36-race 2021 season, Larson sits in second place in the point standings with five top 10 finishes, which is tied for the series lead. His one of six different winners, having won the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He is coming off of a second place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday.
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Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 6:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the four Food City Dirt Race heat races to set the starting lineup for tomorrow afternoon’s main event, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox from Bristol Motor Speedway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. This race is slated to be the first Cup Series dirt race since September 1970.