Kyle Larson was on his way to catching the leader in Stage 1 of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway; however, Ross Chastain had other plans that made Larson irrelevant for the rest of the event.
As Larson was catching Chastain, the No. 1 car went hard into Turn 1 and dumped the No. 15 car driven by Brennan Poole. As Poole slid back up the race track, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was involved and suffered significant damage in the accident.
Larson was likely going to win Stage 1 and had the fastest car for the entire weekend. However, the 2021 Cup Series champion left Dover with a 32nd-place finish while Chastain came up short of the victory in second place. Obviously, Larson was not pleased about the incident.
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Kyle Larson calls out Ross Chastain after causing him to wreck at Dover Motor Speedway
It was looking to be a major day for Larson at Dover Motor Speedway as he was pushing for his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2023 season but those hopes were quickly dashed as he ran in 32nd place the rest of the event.
The driver of the No. 5 car has been quite unlucky through 11 races as he has shown the most speed of any competitor but has four DNFs, one engine problem, and now the incident at Dover with Chastain.
In the fives races where Larson finished and had no problems, he has two wins and four top-4 finishes. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was in contention to win at Talladega Superspeedway just over one week ago before a scary wreck took place in overtime.
As said above, Larson was involved in another accident at Dover and was not happy on the radio. This is what the 30-year-old driver had to say about Chastain in Stage 1.
“What a (expletive) idiot. (Ross Chastain) just (expletive) wrecked (Brennan Poole). We’re in the FIRST stage!”
Kyle Larson on the radio after Ross Chastain caused a wreck at Dover
Larson was rightfully upset because it was simply unnecessary. Just like Denny Hamlin at Phoenix Raceway, Chastain ruined a Rick Ware Racing driver’s day for no reason. It is not OK for NASCAR’s top drivers to continue this trend.
It doesn’t mean Chastain is a bad driver but the team might have to reign him in a little bit. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs used to be ultra-aggressive but his calm and relaxed driving in his rookie season has been very, very impressive.
Larson was not interviewed during the race despite going to the garage area because he was able to return after meeting minimum speed. This is what the Hendrick Motorsports driver had to say about the accident.
“It seems like (Ross Chastain) just got in a hurry, I’m guessing….We have the fastest car every damn weekend and it doesn’t seem to work out…I would understand third stage or something but that was middle of the first stage and to make an error like that, and his errors never affect him negatively. I just find it funny how he always comes out on the good end. It is what it is.”
Kyle Larson on his accident with Ross Chastain after the race at Dover
There is zero bashing of Chastain because this is just reality. The driver of the No. 1 car has been involved in several incidents that have been due to his aggressive driving and this is another example of the issues that have been seen.
Chastain is a good race car driver and will be around for a long time; however, he needs to clean up his act or success will continue to be limited. It has been over one year since the 30-year-old driver’s last victory and his actions have undoubtedly made it more difficult for him.
Hopefully, Chastain can start to run both clean and competitive races moving forward. The apologies during the week are not good enough since they don’t affect the results on Sunday. Larson likely won’t retaliate any more but he won’t cut Chastain any breaks in the future.