Larson loses out on Talladega win despite "near perfect job"

Late in Sunday’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Larson appeared in excellent position to end that drought.

Entering the final of 188 laps, Erik Jones led the way, with Larson right behind him and Ross Chastain just behind Larson.

Larson got a push and decided to move to the top lane in an effort pass Jones and grab the win, but Jones decided to run to the top lane to block Larson’s advance.

That left Chastain on the bottom lane alone and he took the checkered flag by 0.105 seconds over Austin Dillon.

“I feel like I did a pretty near perfect job for me at a superspeedway until the last lap there,” said Larson, who’s the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion. “I should have, like, I think just kind of faked going high, then went back low.

“I had that run. Ross helped me with that run. It kind of baited me into going to the outside. Just a little inexperience probably there.”

Just on Saturday, Larson had talked about how he has tried different approaches to superspeedway races but hadn’t found a key to success as yet.

“I’ve tried a bunch of different ways, and nothing’s seemed to work out to this point. I don’t know what the right way to race these things is,” he said. “But there’s definitely a handful of guys who always contend up front, so they got it figured out.”

Larson ended up with a fourth-place finish and led 32 laps – second-most of any driver. It may well have been one of his most complete performances in a superspeedway race.

“I’m really proud of my team. We did a great job executing all race long,” he said. “The car was great. I felt like we could push people great. I felt like we could receive pushes well.

“Honestly, this is the first time I’ve had a legit shot at winning a plate race in the Cup Series. Happy about that. When you’re close, I was in the exact position I wanted to be in, I didn’t want to be leading.

“I felt like I did a good job with patience and stuff. Made one small mistake there and it cost me the win.”