NASCAR CUP SERIES WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES MAY 9, 2026 |
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Watkins Glen International. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
NASCAR CUP SERIESWATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTESMAY 9, 2026 |
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Watkins Glen International. | MEDIA RESOURCES: Photo Gallery | Race AdvancesChevrolet Newsroom |
Media Availability Quotes: In terms of the tire packs and the restart zone that made a little bit of headlines yesterday, from what you were able to see from yesterday’s race and what you’re expecting today, how do you think that’s all played out so far and what you might expect to see from it tomorrow, as well?“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, I think the barriers and stuff, just from watching on TV, seemed to work out okay. We have a much different perspective as a fan watching on TV than behind the wheel of the restart zone, but it sounded like maybe it was hard to see, listening to some of the guys’ interviews. But, yeah, I think they made some changes overnight, not sure what that was, but hopefully I’m on the front row and I can see, or not see, how difficult it is.” What happened last week on pit road with Chase Briscoe, and do you have to change anything on entry or exit?“I don’t know. I mean, I was committed to getting in my pit stall. I had my eyes aware of what he was doing and I thought I was close enough to my pit stall that they would hold him, just because his car was still up on the jack when I was about next to him. So, I was surprised when we hit. I’m curious if they think it was my fault or our team’s fault. But, I don’t know, maybe just more communication between the two teams coming in.” Katherine Legge was in here earlier and she said it would be awesome to do “The Double”. And I’m just wondering, somebody who has done it and had every benefit of the resources between the two organizations to do what you needed to do, what do you think the challenges would be facing her if she elects to try that?“Yeah, first off, I think it would be awesome if she could do it. I believe she would be the first female and only female to have done it, so that would be great. And then the challenges, as everybody was aware of mine, is just the weather. So, yeah, I mean, the driving and whatnot is a challenge on its own, but ultimately it’s the weather that kind of can put a damper on things if you get any bit of delay. So, yeah, if anybody does do “The Double” in the future, I hope it goes smoother than it did for me and they can enjoy the great race day that it is supposed to be.” I’m just curious your reaction to Kasey Kahne winning at Williams Grove last night after 29 years… “Yeah, that was awesome. I was flying here, so I didn’t get to watch the race live, but I’d gotten texts from multiple people when he won and landed in time to watch his interview and just see how excited everybody was for him… the fans, himself, the team. Kasey Kahne’s put a lot into the sport of sprint car racing. He’s achieved everything you can achieve as an owner, so to conquer something that he’s been trying to get for a long time and been somewhat close, was cool. He was fast at Lincoln the other night, and then really good last night, so that was awesome.” Obviously, you’ve won at Watkins Glen. Since then, the results have been kind of all over. What’s made this place so challenging the last few years?“Well, last year we had brake issues. I think our car was probably okay, we just didn’t qualify good. And honestly, I can’t remember the other years. I think I sped on pit road one year. I was fast, but I think I sped on the final pit stop and we had a decent shot at a good run then. And then in 2024, I just didn’t do the best job on restarts. I remember everybody was very aggressive and it was in the playoffs, I think, at that point. I was just trying to not crash and go into whatever weekend was next with a rough finish, so just got kind of taken advantage of then. But yeah, I don’t know. Road courses have gotten a little bit tougher for me. I feel like since we’ve gone to a softer tire, I just don’t feel like I do the best job of kind of treating it how it wants to be treated. And I think, too, our car setup was just right for the old tire and we’re still trying to figure it out. But yeah, hopefully this weekend will be smooth and we can have a decent practice. I don’t know what the conditions will be like when we get out there, but just try to do a good job all weekend.” Monday will mark one calendar year since you last won a Cup race. I know a lot of people in this room and the media in general, fans, they make a big deal out of that. Does that hold any water to you? Do you make a big deal out of that? Is that important to you at all?“I mean, I think you guys pay attention to it way more than I pay attention to it. But yeah, obviously I would have loved to have won to this point, but we just haven’t been good enough. I feel like at times, we’re really close to getting a win. And then at other times, I feel like we’re far from getting a win. I just kind of shows how tough this series is. But yeah, I don’t know. We’re working really hard. I say the same thing every time you guys ask… it’s not like we’re not trying to win. We’re just kind of searching of how to be better and sometimes maybe search too much and get off track a little bit. But you know, Chase (Elliott) has had a good start to the year, but the rest of us have been kind of off, so we’re still trying to work through it. We’re just going to keep fighting. We’ve made this sport, the Cup Series, look easy at times, and I never thought it was, so I’m glad that we can show you that it’s not easy.” We’ve seen the brake issues here last year, but what benefit would there be for future races in kind of being able to use the rest of that race as a test session to experiment, as well?“I don’t know how much experimenting was going on after we came back out. I was just kind of making laps and trying not to get in people’s way and get in the middle of their battles. But, yeah, I don’t know. It was good to just get back out and make laps because I think any time you can make laps, you learn something, more probably behind the wheel because there’s not much you can adjust on your race car and stuff during the race besides air pressure and things. So, yeah, maybe they learned some on that. Just kind of looking back and studying the race, I think we were actually better than I remember being, pace-wise. Just excited to get on track. I guess it hasn’t really been that long, it was just in the fall, but we race so much, it’s easy to forget kind of how you were. I think we were better off than what I remembered, so we’ll see.” Does the cold temperatures have any impact on how you guys setup or go about things with your car?“I guess I’ve never been here when it’s this cold, but it’s a pavement track, so you do have grip differences when it’s hot and sunny, like it’s been most of the time we’ve been here. So I’m curious how it will be the balance of just speed, grip and pace fall-off. If it was like an oval, you would say it’s going to be much more gripped up and fast, but you also could potentially have more tire wear from that, so a higher pace fall-off. But we’ll see. We’ll pay attention to the O’Reilly race. We’ll try and make the most out of our practice laps to see what we can do to learn and go into Saturday night and just try to make the best decisions.” Have you given much thought to the All-Star race at all, the rules, the format, anything about it at all?“I have not yet. It’s kind of wild that it’s here. You know, I haven’t really put any thought into it. I got interviewed this week and they were asking about the format. I was like, I don’t even honestly know the format off the top of my head. So, yeah, we’ll see. I don’t know what to expect going there. I think that aero package has been a challenge for the Chevy’s, just based off of what Bristol looked like. We had a good day, but I didn’t feel good, and then the rest of the Chevys were really struggled. I’m a bit skeptical on just how we will be on balance and pace, but it’s the All-Star Race and you get to go for a million bucks, so that has you excited. We’ll see when we get there.” “The Double” documentary premiere is soon. Can you tell folks what they can expect when it comes out?“Yeah. I’m excited for it to come out and have everybody see what it was like for me and our team; the stress behind all the logistics, the weather and all of that. I didn’t know what to think on how it would turn out because in my head before it, I was like, it has to go good for this documentary to be good. I need to finish well, this and that. And then with the weather and not doing as good as I wanted to, I was just super bummed because I was like, man, these guys have been following me for three years and now they’ve got nothing to produce something exciting with. But I think because it went so poorly for me and behind the wheel, as well as the weather and the drama behind that, it actually made for a much better film than I think it could have been. I watched it one time and it was really, really good. Getting to see the family and the kids growing up through it was awesome, as well. So, yeah, it turned out well. I’m just excited to see what everybody else thinks about it.” |