NASCAR CUP SERIES: YELLAWOOD 500

October 25, 2026

Kyle Larson

Press Conference

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: We are joined by our race winner, Kyle Larson.

Talk about what this win means to you.

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it means a lot. I mean, I think there was a long time where I felt really bad on speedways. I feel like, I don't know, the last however many years I've been with Hendrick I feel like we've been one of the better teams on these tracks. Just have not had it play out right at the end, whether it be mistakes on my part or wrecks or whatever.

Yeah, I still try to give it away there on the last lap. Yeah, thankfully everything kind of worked out to get to the lead.

Yeah, unbelievable. Yeah, I don't know, crazy, crazy. Happy. All of it. Yeah, glad to finally get a speedway win (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. 73-point lead heading to two of your best tracks. How are you feeling right now?

KYLE LARSON: I feel good, yeah. I don't know, it would be great to gain a handful of points next week and I guess we would have it locked up.

I also don't want to let that be in my kind of -- clouded in my thoughts as we prepare this week and run in the race at Martinsville, 'cause really have a good day and give ourselves a good shot at Homestead.

Never in a million years would I have imagined leaving here plus 73, though (smiling). I was shocked when I saw that on the screen. Even more pumped. That makes the win feel even way cooler.

Q. We heard Cliff's explanation. Take us through your perspective there on the last lap. Did you or did you not cross the yellow line?

KYLE LARSON: I don't know. I haven't seen it.

Yeah, I don't know, I knew it was close. I would have been really pissed at myself if I did go below because, yeah, I mean, we crossed the finish line first. I've never done that in a Cup car. To get it called back would have sucked.

Yeah, I'm not sure. Like I said, I knew it was close. I haven't seen a picture. I haven't seen a video. I don't know. I was fist pumping already. My momentum was taking me past the 47, I was fist pumping before I ever got to the line.

Yeah, that would have been embarrassing if we didn't win (smiling).

Q. How soon after you crossed the finish line did you think, I've got a lot of points up now?

KYLE LARSON: Well, I mean, under the red, I was kind of like you're thinking about it, but you're not actually crunching the numbers. Then after the win, I don't know. I thought I'd like be in the 50s.

Yeah, when I saw the screen say the 11 I think was second, minus 73, I think I said on TV, like, Holy shit. I was not expecting it to be that large. Crazy.

Like I said in here yesterday, I know the numbers, I don't know, what is it, 15 up or 20 more than second you get to winning? 20?

Q. Yes.

KYLE LARSON: It seems like way more once you actually win. Once you see the numbers on paper, it's like, No way, that's more than 20 over second.

Again, that's what it was like when I looked at the screen. I don't know. I thought it would be a little closer. Yeah, I was pumped.

Q. Have you ever raced in a series where you've had this type of lead to win a championship? Everything you've done in NASCAR I think has been in the elimination-style system.

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no. When I won that K&N championship, I can't remember what the point scenario was going into the final race, but it was close with Brett Moffitt, maybe another person. I can't remember if I was leading going into the last one or behind or whatever. It was close.

Then the only other championship I think I've won was sprint cars. It wasn't locked up or anything. It was comfortable from what I remember.

Yeah, I don't know. There's still two races. Like, it's so easy to look at it and be like, Oh, the 5's got it. We could go to Martinsville, there's a stack unpredictable in turn 33 on the first lap. I could cave in the radiator and be done. I'm just saying there's still a lot of racing left. So much in the Chase. All you guys in here are like, This person is out, this person has it locked up. They win or something happens, boom, the picture completely changes.

I'm not getting ahead of myself at all. I'm not going to let you guys get me ahead of myself either.

Q. Coming out of turn two, you're in 11th place, what went through your head there? How did you maybe flip a switch and get back into the mentality of I can still have a good points day or win this race?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, Austin Hill was doing a good job of helping me whenever he was around me all day. One and two, you can imagine the pushes are going to get more aggressive. I wasn't getting pushed in the corners and stuff. Yeah, he was giving me shoves in the corner which I was happy about. But as I got close to the transition from banking the flat, I got really loose. I couldn't turn the wheel. My wheel is straight, I'm going straight up the racetrack.

Yeah, it just forced him underneath me. I was stalled out, mad at myself. I was like, Man, under that red, lineup for the restart, I've got a great shot to win here. This is going to be the easiest speedway win of the history of speedway wins because I have so much Chevys around me.

Then, yeah, I choked it away off of turn two and was pissed. I'm like, Man, let's just not crash. I was negative thoughts like there's going to be a crash, I'm going to get swallowed in it, the good day is going to be terrible.

There it was, almost a crash into turn three. But I was just kind of stuck in the middle. Then the middle kind of took off. I guess Ross got behind me and picked my momentum back up. Yeah, it looked like those guys in the front were all slicing and dicing to give themselves the best opportunity they had. It was washing them up the track with the moves they were making. I got clear to go left.

I had such a run and the shorter distance, it worked out. Yeah, off of turn two, definitely did not think I would win. I mean, even off turn four, I didn't think I'd win. That's just speedway racing, it's crazy.

Q. How much it means to Tyler Monn to win a superspeedway, how much does it mean to you, not only for you, but to get him this moment as well?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it's special for everyone on this team. Tyler and I are tight. We know that spotters, they mean a lot everywhere, but they mean the most here.

To win a speedway race, it makes me feel good that he gets a lot of the credit. Yeah, it feels good for us each to get our first Cup Series speedway win together. To come in the fashion that it did, with the points that came from it, all of those things.

Yeah, just proud of him. I promise you, there's no other spotter that works as hard as Tyler Monn does, not on any race team. He's the only spotter in the shop two, three days a week. It's incredible the work and effort that he puts in.

I'm proud of him, all that he means for our race team.

Q. Cliff said the mood was super light and jovial even after what happened last weekend. He came in and took responsibility. You guys turned the page quickly. Was that kind of your experience?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, I mean, that's how we always are, I guess. I feel like our team, we don't do much celebrating whether we win, and we don't get too down when we have rough races either.

When you look at a lot of different championship organizations and teams throughout many different sports, I think that's a common theme that you see. It's led by Cliff and his leadership.

Yeah, I don't know, it's just what we've always been like. I think we're just really good at refocusing on what's ahead and not getting too far ahead or behind of what we need to accomplish.

Q. Tell me what you heard on the radio immediately after the checkered flag.

KYLE LARSON: I don't remember what I heard. I was going crazy coming to the line. I was like fist pumping, already kind of screaming in my helmet.

Yeah, Tyler, my spotter, I could hear his tone of voice, like, just as shocked and surprised as me. But I couldn't tell you what was said (laughter). That's just the craziness of the endings of these races.

Yeah, it was cool to be a part of it.

Q. After the race you made the comment your family has not been here for any of these wins. When you see your family running across the grass, what is that moment like for you, especially for a superspeedway win?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it meant a lot. It was a long run I'm sure for them from the motorhome lot.

But yeah, my kids, they're getting older. They're into their own things. Racing a lot on the weekends, so they don't get to come to really any of my races. Had a race scheduled this weekend, but we decided to pull it off the schedule. Talladega is always fun because MRO does the festival and the trick-or-treating and stuff.

Yeah, I was glad they were able to come. It is stressful when they're here 'cause, as you can imagine, three kids is craziness. When you do get those wins, it means a lot when they're here because they come less and less. The wins are so hard to get, too.

Yeah, it was special to have them here. To get Owen to sit on the roof, Audrey and Cooper next to me, it was awesome. I think they know how badly I want to win a speedway race. I think they were very happy for me.

Q. Do you just have the sense that you can do it, in other words, coming up 11 spots, doing what you did on the final lap to get the win? It was pretty special today to do that. I asked your crew chief what he thought. He said, We're not even surprised anymore really by what you can do.

KYLE LARSON: Well, I was (smiling). No, like I said, I never once in that last lap after I got stuck in the middle off of turn two did I think I was going to win. Not even until I entered the tri-oval and I had a clear track in front of me did I think I could win.

I was so far behind that I was like, We made it through all the craziness, I'm going to finish. I was happy I'm going to finish. Oh, my gosh, I'm flying right now, I'm going to win.

It was just full of surprise. Like, there wasn't anything special that I did. I didn't really think on the last lap. It was honestly, like, more mistakes than anything that got me in that scenario.

I don't know. Maybe it was just meant to be and the mistake opened up the opportunity for me. Who knows how the race would have played out if I been leading my lane, not being put in the middle. Who knows, I might not have won, I might have crashed.

It worked out how it was supposed to work out.

Q. On the Tyler Monn bandwagon, he said that your dedication this year, you're just taking it to another level. Is there something behind that? You just feel the need getting a certain stage to step it up, or do you feel like you're trying to keep up with the competition? What's the impetus behind it?

KYLE LARSON: I don't know. I think there's a lot of things that make it that way.

I would say early in the year I recognized that we weren't where we needed to be with our car. Then you hear of all the different drivers in the sim, them having good days, us not. I don't do any sim.

I kind of committed myself to, All right, let's give the sim a chance. That's one area where I feel like it's helped us.

Then I just have more time. I just have more time to dedicate to the Cup stuff. I chose to race less this year in the sprint car stuff. I feel like I found a good balance there.

I don't know. I'm at home more. I made the investment to buy an airplane this year. Just all the extra time at home has really helped me to find a better balance not only in the Cup stuff but just in life in general, getting to be around my family more, all that.

Yeah, I think my mood has been good. I don't know. There's just a number of things that have added up to get to the balance that I feel like I'm comfortable with right now.

Q. You mentioned the celebration putting Owen on the roof of the car. What went into that decision for you? Was that preplanned?

KYLE LARSON: No. I always think it's cool when people win speedway races and they pop out of the roof hatch. I think we have a roof hatch all the time. I never used it. I thought that would be cool, he could sit up there.

A lot of times when I win a sprint car race, we'll get pushed back from the front stretch around. He'll sit on my seat behind me. It would be cool if we kind of did that.

It definitely wasn't preplanned. There's not much space for three kids on the right side of the car. We're trying to find more space as they get bigger.

Q. Jeff mentioned that he was in shock. Are you in shock? Can you even believe the run you had even happened?

KYLE LARSON: Well, I wasn't going to be shocked originally, like I said, because there were so many Chevys around me. I just felt like I had a bunch of allies, I was right where I wanted to be in the bottom line.

Yeah, the last lap kind of went how it went. So yes, then I am now very shocked that I won, shocked at how the points played out. Yeah, there was a lot to be surprised by there at the end of the race.

Q. Could you speak to how the other Chevrolet drivers raced with you? With all the talk throughout the race of team strategy, do you feel like supportive of your cause? Do you feel they were racing as wingmen or each individual driver was as much looking out for their own race?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, no, I felt it from the drop of the green really, all the help. Getting me out of tough situations that I was finding myself in, opening holes for me to kind of get in line. Save fuel there in the first stage, there fuel saving was really important. That was really beneficial.

Just kind of allowing me to carve the way through the pack and just having the trust of them behind me was important. Really all the way to the end of the race, you know.

They helped me very much. Also at the end we're fighting to get our own wins. There was a bunch of Chevys up there going for it. Yeah, these speedway races take a lot of teamwork. I feel like obviously I was the beneficiary of a lot of that today, being in the position that we're in.

I am so grateful for that. I hope that they know that. I've recognized it long before this race, the Chase. The Chevy guys have cut me a lot of breaks.

Yeah, it's rewarding to have a Chevy battling for the championship right now. I think through the tough years that Chevy's had, it's cool to see the teamwork.

Q. Now that you've got a win here, is it almost a relief, a relief factor knowing you were finally able to get one of these before you step away from stockcars?

KYLE LARSON: Yeah, it definitely is a bit of a relief. I hope that you guys don't ask me all the time now why I suck on speedways (smiling). I hope the win kind of erases that. Now we can move on and find a new topic of discussion.

No, it just feels good. I wouldn't have lost any sleep I don't think if I ended my Cup career without a speedway win. Certainly it does ease the feeling. Definitely there's a sense of relief.

I guess now you guys will ask about Daytona 500s. If you never win a Daytona 500 will you be a failure? All that. Bob already has that teed up for February (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.