Superspeedways Proving to Be Kryptonite to Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson is a generational talent, but when it comes to superspeedway racing the California driver has his challenges.
Currently in his 13th season in NASCAR's Cup Series, Larson has yet to secure a victory at Daytona or Talladega.
His average finish at NASCAR's two superspeedways is 21.9. He has recorded no top-five finishes at the 2.5-mile Daytona speedway and only two at the 2.66-mile Talladega track. In the top-10 category, Larson has posted five at Daytona and four at Talladega. In the DNF group, Larson owns nine at Daytona and six at Talladega.
'I think I'm starting to see it's getting in his head,' Hendrick Motorsports Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon said. 'I've had a few conversations with him, and like, man, just go for it, just forget about it, don't try to even overthink it. I don't know what advice to give him other than … just be Kyle Larson. Don't try to be something you're not. Don't look at what somebody else is doing that's having success. Just go out there and execute, and the other things will turn around and come your way eventually.'
Larson, who finished 20th in this year's Daytona 500, said he knew the decisions he made in the season opener weren't always the correct ones.
'Sometimes you just have races that go that way,' Larson said. 'Sometimes you know every decision you make isn't the right one and sometimes you can't miss.
'I look at the first Stage. The 12 (Ryan Blaney) didn't do anything special. He literally stayed in one lane the whole time and it just kept advancing. So, the next run I decided I was going to stay in one lane and it didn't go anywhere. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. Even in William's (Byron) case, he got shuffled behind me before the crash on the backstretch that I got caught up in.
'The last few years, even though I haven't won or finished well, I feel like we've done well and made right decisions to get into the picture at the end. The (Daytona) 500 wasn't one of those.'
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NBC Sports
an hour ago
- NBC Sports
Good news, bad news for NASCAR Cup teams ahead of Mexico City weekend
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Mexico City this weekend for its first points race outside the U.S. since 1958. The series will race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Drivers will compete on a 15-turn, 2.42-mile course. The frontstretch is 3,937 feet, making it the longest in the series (Pocono's frontstretch is 3,740 feet). Chase Elliott (three wins), Ryan Blaney (two) and Joey Logano (two) have combined to win seven of the last 11 races at a new track for the Cup Series. Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading into Sunday's race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. 23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace has scored back-to-back top-10 finishes for the second time this season. … Wallace continues to have the No. 1 pit crew in the series as ranked by Racing Insights. … Tyler Reddick is tied with Kyle Larson for most wins on a road course in the Next Gen car at three. … Reddick's 13 top 10s on road courses in the Next Gen car ranks second to Chris Buescher. Bad news: Reddick has one top-10 finish in the last seven races. … Wallace has three top-10 finishes in 33 road course starts. … Riley Herbst enters the weekend 34th in points. Dustin Long, Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Zane Smith finished a season-best seventh last weekend at Michigan. … Smith has five top-20 results in the last six races. … Noah Gragson finished eighth at COTA earlier this year for his best result on a road course in Cup. … Todd Gilliland finished 10th at COTA, tying his season best. Bad news: Gilliland has qualified 30th or worse in five of the last seven races. … Gragson has finished 27th or worse in each of the last two races. Haas Factory Team — Good news: All three of Cole Custer's top-20 finishes this season have come in the last six races. Bad News: Custer's 35th-place finish at Michigan snapped a streak of seven consecutive top-30 finishes. Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: The organization has won four of the last six races on a road or street course. … Kyle Larson's six road course wins puts him tied for fourth on the all-time list. … Chase Elliott has completed all but one of the 4,231 laps run this season. … Elliott ranks third all-time with seven road course victories. … William Byron has won four of the last seven stages and is averaging 9.3 points per stage in that period. … Byron ranks first for the season in speed and restart rankings, according to Racing Insights. … Alex Bowman has five top 10s, including a win, in his last nine road course starts. Bad news: Bowman has finished 27th or worse in seven of the last nine races, dropping him from third in the points to 13th. … Byron has led 83 or more laps in four races this season but won none of those events. … Larson has two top 10s in his last eight road course starts. … Elliott has two top 10s in the last seven races. Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has five top-20 finishes in the last six races. Bad news: Stenhouse has fallen from 15th to 20th in the playoff standings in the past two races. … Stenhouse has two top-10 finishes in 43 career Cup road course/street course races. Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin has won three of the last nine races this season. … Hamlin has scored points in nine consecutive stages. … Hamlin said Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that if fiancee Jordan Fish has not delivered their baby boy by the time he has to leave for Mexico later this week, he will skip the race. NASCAR has stated in the past that missing a race for the birth of a child is acceptable and they would grant a playoff waiver in such a case. … Should Denny Hamlin miss Mexico, JGR's reserve driver, Ryan Truex, would drive the No. 11 car. … Christopher Bell won at Circuit of the Americas in the only road course race run so far this season. … Chase Briscoe finished first in passing, according to Racing Insights, earlier this year at COTA. … Briscoe has won the pole for the last three races (Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan). … Christopher Bell has seven top 10s in the last nine races. … Ty Gibbs tied his season-best finish by placing third at Michigan. Bad news: Bell has led 10 laps in the last eight races, a stretch of 2,423 laps. … Gibbs has placed 22nd or worse in four of the last five Cup road course races. Kaulig Racing — Good news: All three of AJ Allmendinger's Cup victories have come on road courses. … Allmendinger has five top 10s in his last eight starts on a road course. … Allmendinger finished second in Mexico City in a Champ Car race in 2005. Bad news: Ty Dillon has not finished better than 15th in 26 road course starts in Cup. Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones' 11th-place finish at Michigan gives him four top-15 results in the last five races. Bad news: Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. … John Hunter Nemechek's best finish in eight career Cup road course starts is 21st. … Jones has no top 10s in his last 13 road course starts. Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Kyle Busch ranked first in speed, according to Racing Insights, earlier this season at COTA, the only road course race run so far. … Busch's best finish this year is a fifth-place result at COTA. … Busch won the most recent Xfinity race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in 2008, although that course was a little different from what teams will race this weekend. Bad news: Austin Dillon has never finished better than 10th at a road course race in 40 starts. … Dillon has finished 19th or worse in the last four races. … Kyle Busch fell out of a playoff spot after last weekend's race at Michigan. Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware has finished 26th or better in two of the last three races, the first time he's done that this season. Bad news: Ware's best finish in 16 career road course starts in Cup is 24th. 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Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has scored six top-10 finishes in the last nine races. … Chastain has scored all eight of his top-10 finishes this season after starting the race outside the top 15. … Shane van Gisbergen has been the best finishing rookie in three of the last four races. … In the last three road course races, van Gisbergen has finished no worse than seventh. … Daniel Suarez has scored back-to-back top-20 finishes heading into Mexico. Bad news: Suarez has only one top-10 finish in the last 13 road course races. Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: The 169 laps that Josh Berry has led this year is a career high. Bad news: Berry has one top-10 finish since his Las Vegas victory. … Berry has not finished better than 22nd in six Cup road course starts.
New York Post
3 hours ago
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Simone Biles speaks out after ugly feud with Riley Gaines over trans athletes explodes
Simone Biles expanded on her 'fair competition' stance in the transgender athlete debate Tuesday after her feud with Riley Gaines exploded on social media over the weekend. In a lengthy post shared on X, the 11-time Olympic medalist gymnast addressed how 'the current system doesn't adequately balance' principles such as 'competitive equity' and 'inclusivity,' often igniting 'heated exchanges' such as her sparring match with Gaines, to which Biles, 28, apologized for. 'I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I've always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,' Biles wrote. 3 Simone Biles spoke out in June 2025 on the transgender athlete debate following her social media feud with Riley Gaines. AP 3 Riley Gaines pictured here in January 2025. Getty Images The social media drama between Biles and Gaines, 25, unfolded last week when the political activist and former collegiate swimmer reacted to a Minnesota high school softball team winning a state championship with a transgender pitcher on the roster. When Gaines took note of the comments on the team's post being turned off, she expressed, 'To be expected when your star player is boy.' In response to Gaines' comment, Biles fired back and stated she was 'truly sick.' In a follow-up message, the seven-time Olympic gold medalist told Gaines, 'Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male.' 'These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don't have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect. I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women's sports,' Biles wrote. 'My objection is to be singling out children for public scrutiny in ways that feel personal and harmful. Individual athletes—especially kids—should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over. I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition.' 3 Simone Biles is an 11-time Olympic medalist gymnast. Getty Images Biles concluded her post by sharing her hope for the future of sport, one 'that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.' The fallout has only continued with ex-NASCAR driver Danica Patrick recently weighing in.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
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Ex-NASCAR driver Danica Patrick weighs in on Riley Gaines and Simone Biles' social media feud over trans athletes
Danica Patrick threw her support behind Riley Gaines in her bitter online feud with Simone Biles over transgender athletes. Former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick proudly confessed to taking the 'red pill' as the racing star publicly backed political activist Riley Gaines in her ongoing feud with decorated Olympian Simone Biles over transgender athletes competing in women's sports. 'This issue has a shelf life. I truly believe common sense will prevail,' Patrick, 43, said on Instagram Sunday. 'But until then, I am grateful for people like Riley Gaines who are making sure no one gets away with it. Not to mention the fact that she actually lived it.' Danica Patrick defended Riley Gaines in her ongoing feud with Simone Biles over transgender athletes. Getty Images 'Defending men in women's sports is the woke mind virus and/or another issue that requires therapy. Either way, it is so irrational,' she added. Advertisement Patrick's comments are the latest in an ongoing war of words between anti-trans activist and former University of Kentucky swimmer Gaines and Olympic gymnast Biles that broke out Friday – a spat that has seen cheap shots taken by both sides. The sparring began when Biles targeted Gaines with a seemingly unprompted tweet amid controversy over a Minnesota trans high-school softball pitcher's shutout in the state finals Thursday that helped secure the championship. '@Riley_Gaines_ You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race,' 28-year-old Biles tweeted, referencing Gaines' tie during a race with trans University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championship. Simone Biles called Riley Gaines a 'bully' for her social media posts about transgender athletes. Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency / 'Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!!' Biles wrote. Advertisement 'bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,' she later added. Gaines, 25, fired back. 'It's not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces. You can uplift men stealing championships in women's sports with YOUR platform. Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest,' Gaines said. Gaines alluded to Biles' efforts to take down former Team USA gymnastics doctor and prolific sex criminal Larry Nassar. 'All the horrific sexual abuse @Simone_Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one man, yet [she] believes women should be forced to strip naked in front of men to validate the man's feelings,' Gaines wrote in another tweet. Riley Gaines pulled no punches in her bitter online feud with celebrated Olympian Simone Biles. Getty Images Gaines also unearthed an old comment of Biles and used it against her in the widening dispute. Advertisement 'ahhhh good thing guys don't compete against girls or he'd take all the gold medals !!' Biles wrote in the 2017 tweet, apparently responding to the men's division results at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. 'Oop don't you hate it when your past self completely undermines your current nonsensical argument?' Gaines wrote sarcastically, retweeting Biles' post. 'How has 2025 Simone reconciled with the fact 2017 Simone was a 'truly sick bully' by her own standard?' Danica Patrick said she cast a vote for the first time in her life in the last election when she pulled the lever for Donald Trump. Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images Patrick's position comes after she announced she would be voting for President Trump in the last election. Last October, at a campaign event with now Vice President JD Vance Patrick announced that she would be voting for the first time at the age 42. Advertisement 'I just want to say I've never voted before, but this time around, I have to vote,' Patrick said, sharing the stage with Vance. 'It's that important.' She said she would be voting for 'the good guys.' 'I just want to be clear, I want to get on record — you're voting for us, right?' Vance then asked. '1,000%,' Patrick replied, joking that if she 'could vote twice,' she would. Patrick retired in 2018 after the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500.
