NASCAR CUP SERIES: HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400

September 27, 2026

Kyle Larson

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We're going to go ahead and continue. We have now been joined by our race winner, Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Kyle, you're having quite the September. You are a NASCAR 26 cover athlete. You finished second at Bristol.

KYLE LARSON: There's not a curse so far, because everybody was talking about that for a while.

THE MODERATOR: It's not like the NFL or NHL at all. So you're having quite the September. Can you just kind of talk about what it's been like? Everybody talked about the 51 race drought. How's it been?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I hope there's some questions about two out of the last three, but no, it's just good. It's been -- I said it kind of in Gateway. I felt like we were close. I didn't feel like it was 51 races and then -- yeah, just it seems like we were just building and ready to kind of capitalize if we got to a moment like this where our car and everything kind of came together.

So just proud of everybody for working so hard for so long now, and then proud of just the execution that they've put in here these first four races. We just got to try and keep it up.

THE MODERATOR: We'll jump into questions.

Q. Losing the lead and getting it back, the entire process there, trying to read the track, read traffic in front of you, what all goes into that, and what eventually led to you being able to win the race?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I really didn't think that I could win after Briscoe got by. I just thought he caught me so fast from behind and caught me earlier in the run than he had the run before.

So I was like, man, he's got enough grip in his tires. I'm struggling right here. He's going to pass me. He did. I'm like, okay, now he's going to drive away. And let's just settle in, take our second, try not to lose second throughout this run.

But, you know, let's also try and spend these next few laps of just seeing if I can stay close to him without pushing things too hard and making a mistake.

I was kind of able to hang five car lengths back that whole time after he got by me, and then I could see him start to struggle on exit. There were some lappers in front of us racing super hard. I don't know who it was, but so the air was dirty in front of both of us. He couldn't really build any runs, and he was allowing me to stay with him.

Yeah, then I was just -- I'd fallen back to second. With that, you can't follow him. So I was able to kind of make some new angles and lines work to just find some things and, yeah, as you mentioned, kind of scan the racetrack, see where there might be some grip. Also, I just didn't want to push and make a mistake and damage a toe link and ruin what had been a good day.

Just tried to stay patient, and it worked out. His balance faded pretty quickly, and we were just there to capitalize. Pressured him some. He made a lot of mistakes in front of me, and yeah, we were able to get by him a little easier than I thought I could.

Q. You, Cliff, and Tyler and this entire team, you have all had great seasons before, but I feel like maybe it's just because the chase is back. This feels very much like a Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus 48 team type of consistency and run. Do you hear those guys at the shop talk about those stories of the heyday of being that team, and have you ever allowed yourself to go, man, I would love to be on that kind of ten-race run, and does this kind of feel like that?

KYLE LARSON: I don't know. I haven't really -- I haven't. But, yeah, I mean, what Jimmy and Chad were able to do for so long was super impressive. So anybody in the field would love to replicate what they have done. Cliff is as close to Chad Knaus as -- although he might hate hearing that -- he's as close to Chad Knaus as you could get. I'm happy to have him as our crew chief leading our team.

Yeah, honestly, I try not to think about all those things and listen or read or anything like that just because I want to stay focused and just try to keep doing the best job I can, which has worked us here for the first four. Being smart racing, making good decisions, all those things.

So, yeah, but it's more than just me. The team also has to have that same mindset. I feel like they do, and the pit crew has been solid. Mechanics have been bringing fast race cars.

Yeah, we struggled for a good portion of the beginning of the year, but it forced us to kind of work hard and zero in on the fine details to make us good.

Q. The difference between you finishing first and finishing second created a huge spread between you and most of the rest of the field at this point. Do you think the chase is yours to lose at this point?

KYLE LARSON: No, no (laughing). There's still six races, and I only have a 26, I think, point lead on Denny. That could be swallowed up in a hurry. I gained 70 -- I scored 76 points today. So Denny could go have a max points day next week, and I could blow an engine, like Noah did in the first stage, and I'm down 70-some points right there.

No, I don't look at it like that. I'm just really trying to do the best job I can, again. And, yeah, just show up to the racetrack and kind of block out all that stuff.

Q. Kind of right off that, there's only five drivers, though, within 100 points of you. How does that affect the mindset or game plan going forward? Do you solely maybe more so look at those guys compared to the rest?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I think in that side of things, yeah, you start paying less attention maybe to the other guys that you feel like are probably close to out of contention, but yeah, you're still trying to run the best laps that you can and execute great restarts, good pit stops, all the things.

Then, yeah, wherever the points kind of shake out at the end of the day, they shake out.

Q. Really the conventional wisdom up until now, the last mile and a half was so Toyota-dominated, and the thought was going to be a lot of Toyotas. Then, you know, there was a question of, okay, have you guys caught them? Do you think with what you did today that it's even now? Have you guys passed them? How do you see the balance of power between the Hendrick cars, the Gibbs cars?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no, that's a good question, and it was kind of -- I'm trying to pay attention to -- or come up with those thoughts and ideas as I'm leading and pulling away from Denny, who is so dominant here. Then, yeah, you look at Austin Cindric. I think potentially had probably the best car arguably for the second half of a run.

Then, yeah, William was up there. Blaney was up there. I think Chase was in the top 10. I don't know the rest of the order. I feel like it's more equal. I thought Briscoe was definitely a great car, again.

Yeah, it's hard to say. If a Toyota was controlling the race and getting the restarts and being out in clean air, it could have looked more dominant than what our run looked like today. You just don't know.

I do feel like we've gotten our cars better. And then it takes more than your car being fast. It's all got to go together. We had the metric work out in our favor. We had solid pit stops all day long. The restarts worked out. I was able to block good enough for four or five laps and get stretched out and kind of settle in.

Yeah, the race just kind of went smooth, but it's a lot that factors into that.

Q. You mentioned yesterday too, you thought it would be naive to think that you guys would surpass or be better than the Toyotas, but were you surprised at all that they weren't as fast at least to start the race? Because it felt like you were miles ahead, especially in the first stage.

KYLE LARSON: Well, again, it's hard -- like, I don't -- I'm not convinced that I was better than them because we didn't get to qualify, so I had got to line up in the front row. Logano was up there. His team has kind of struggled here over the NextGen era, I would say. He was kind of clogging the field up there that first run.

So, yeah, I don't want to read into it. Because a lot like I mentioned to Jeff, like if a Toyota was out in the lead, they could have potentially looked better than us. It's just there was no qualifying.

The weekend could have looked quite a bit different if, say, I qualify seventh. I don't know if it would have looked as good as it did today.

Q. Just looking forward, it's been really hard to get a perfect points day. You did do that today ultimately. How important is that especially when you get into the most important part of the season to execute a flawless day?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it's definitely important. I think you work really hard to have days like today, and I hope there's more ahead. Yeah, it was just, I don't know -- I'm sorry I keep saying the same things over and over, but we just got to keep executing. We've done a great job of that in the first four, and we still have six more to execute at a high level.

Q. Maybe we all simplify it, but we were all like, well, yeah, Kyle leads by a point, but they haven't raced a mile and a half yet. So let's see what he does there before really thinking about how much of whether he's the chase favorite or where he stands. Did you look at that at all? Did you look at it that way at all, and if so, what does today tell you about your title hopes?

KYLE LARSON: Well, I mean, your confidence keeps building for sure, but without a full weekend, it's hard to pinpoint because, yeah, I mean, Toyotas always qualify good here. We do too. But, again, if I qualify the third row, the race could look completely different.

I don't know what my balance was like in traffic for a short run. I could have been plowing tight and faded even more. I don't know.

So I still have some skepticism of where I really rank to the guys who are really good on intermediates. We're going to go to Vegas. I'm sure it's not going to rain in Vegas, so we're going to get to qualify. We'll see how that kind of shakes the weekend up.

Q. In this time of the year, we always hear about athletes raising their game. For as talented as you are, is it right to say that you can even raise your game? Is that almost insinuating that you're not as high level in other parts of the season? How do you feel? Do you feel like you've raised your game at all, or this is Kyle in March and February, and this is what happens?

KYLE LARSON: I'm not sure. I think your race car is a big factor of that, and we had some races earlier this year where we were kind of searching for that balance and guessing on where we were at with the new body and maybe over-reading things on that. So you can have some bad finishes. It's all part of the process to build to be ready for these final ten.

I think we're peaking at a good point. I would like to think that we still have room to go to be even better. And it's more than just me. It's the athletes on pit road, the engineers, everybody at the shop, the engine shop. Everybody has been building to these final ten.

I'm just proud of the work, proud of the execution, and we still have six long weeks ahead to keep it up.

Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think, like you said earlier in the season, with some of the struggles, I get the sense, if I remember right, maybe there were times where you kind of stepped over a line and got you guys in trouble; and I'm curious, as this team is peaking or the cars are getting better, what does that allow you to do differently? How are you different maybe in the cockpit than maybe what you would have been in the spring then?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I guess maybe in some of those races where I look at, like, a Chicago. Well, we had a few races stretch where we were kind of gaining on the front three in points, and then I had, like, five or six 30ths in a row. Some of those were not self-inflicted, but some of them were.

You kind of really realize, like, whoa, you can lose a lot of points in a hurry. Just recognizing that, I think you race a little bit smarter on the racetrack, but your car still has to be fast, and everybody on your team has to be kind of focused and doing a good job. I feel like we have been here.

Q. Kyle, with today's win, you jump up to tied for 26th all-time on the wins with Kurt Busch and Martin Truex. What does it mean to get within one position of the top 25 of all time and share it with drivers like them?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no, that's really, really special. That's not something I pay attention to at this point in my career. I'm sure at the end I'll pay more attention to who is around me, but those are two champions that I've gotten to compete against and have had lots of great battles and wins against them, losses against them.

Yeah, it means a lot. Just try to keep clicking them off.

Q. Kyle, going back to just today, were you able to manage your tires today, and did that help you while you were in the lead because you were able to jump away on those restarts?

KYLE LARSON: No, being the leader I feel like on this track, you're just kind of going. Like you're just going. You're going as hard as you can without overstepping the limit of a tire, and out in the lead that kind of allowed me to build a big lead.

But then, yeah, when I caught traffic, I mean, you're just naturally kind of abusing your tires. I think the people in second and third kind of realized, like, okay, we're not going to pass the leader in this kind of state of track and stuff. They're probably able to kind of just pace even more, which maybe allowed them to be good when I caught traffic, but I don't know.

Again, I didn't get to have any runs where I restarted third or fourth and had to manage my stuff differently. We'll try to listen to what my teammates had to say about their days in the debrief tomorrow and see what I can learn to try and better myself as we go to Vegas, which is a similar track.

Q. Yesterday you told us that if you were good here, you were going to be good at Vegas and Charlotte. How confident are you heading into next week knowing how fast you were, even though you said you weren't sure compared to the Toyotas because we had no qualifying?

KYLE LARSON: Well, do I think that we're going to go there and lead 200-something laps? No. I mean, I would love to. I'd love to lead all of them, but I'm confident that we're going to have a good car that can run within the top probably 5 to 7 and hopefully execute another good day and give ourselves an opportunity to score a lot of points and potentially get another win.

Yeah, this track and Vegas are pretty similar. Vegas is bumpier would be the only sort of difference, but yeah, we always run good at Vegas, we always run good at Kansas. These cars don't change, so we should be pretty good.