Kyle Larson issues public apology to Rick Hendrick for comments

Larson appeared on the NBC Sports 'Splash and Go' segment with Rick Allen this week, answering various questions surrounding the race weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

When asked if Chip Ganassi Racing is the top Chevrolet team right now, Larson said, "I don't know. Like I said, Atlanta is so different than every other track we're going to go to the rest of the year. You can't jump to conclusions off of I think one week."

He then added with a smile, "I feel like Hendrick just plays games in a way with NASCAR and I feel like they always start the year kind of bad to show NASCAR that they're being nice and cooperating and following the rules and stuff and then it gets a couple months in and they start cheating & finding some speed." He concluded with a laugh.

The Hendrick team struggled mightily at Atlanta with Alex Bowman's 15th-place finish the highest among the four drivers. William Byron was 17th, Chase Elliott 19th and Jimmie Johnson 24th.

Full video of the interview below:

Later, he issued a public apology, saying how much he appreciates Hendrick Motorsports for the engines they supply to CGR and saying the comments were made in jest.

"I want to apologize to Mr. (Rick) 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.”

He found support following the post including a response from former Hendrick Motorsports driver and NBCSN analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. saying, "racers know what you meant."