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CREW CHIEF: Cliff Daniels
TEAM: Hendrick Motorsports
POINTS: Seventh in Cup Sequence
WINS: Three (Auto Membership, Watkins Glen, Homestead)
LAPS LED: 635
MORE: Kyle Busch one-on-one
TOP 5s: 13
TOP 10s: 19
QUALIFIED FIRST: 5 instances (Daytona I, Sonoma, Richmond II, Daytona II, Martinsville II)
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Kyle Larson started the 2022 season with a tall process – making an attempt to enhance on 2021. In that season, he received 10 races and his first Cup championship. 2022 would virtually definitely be a step again.
Within the first three races, Larson scored a win at Auto Club Speedway and a second at Las Vegas. Then he would want 22 extra races to go to Victory Lane once more, this time at Watkins Glen, where he pushed aside teammate Chase Elliott to win.
He scored his third – and closing – seasonal win at Homestead.
Regardless of having what may be thought-about a “down” yr for him, Larson led 635 laps, received 5 poles and reached the Spherical of 12 within the playoffs.
WHAT WENT WRONG: Larson’s 22-race winless streak was significantly painful as a result of he registered eight top-five finishes throughout the stretch.
Over a run of six of these races, he led chunks of laps (27, 32, 19, 30, 29, 51) however couldn’t carry house the win.
MORE: Silly Season: Drivers, cars, numbers
A 35th-place end on the Charlotte Roval booted him from the playoffs.
Larson was a sufferer of one of many ugliest incidents of the season as Bubba Wallace, in retaliation for a Larson transfer, deliberately wrecked him on the high-speed Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wallace was suspended for one race.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023: Larson blamed himself for his brief playoff run. Chances are high he’ll strategy 2023 with extra focus and drive.
Search for a deeper playoff dive for the No. 5 within the new yr.
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