Larson shoulders blame for wreck, admits he 'needs to listen more'

Kyle Larson was reminded of an important variable in racing Sunday afternoon: don’t be so quick to react.

The quick self-reflection came outside the infield care center at EchoPark Speedway after the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion took himself out of Sunday’s race. Larson made an unexpected cut from the top of the racetrack to the bottom, coming to the end of the second stage, which put him across the nose of Shane van Gisbergen.

Larson bounced off van Gisbergen and shot back across the track and into the outside wall. The heavy impact on the front of his Chevrolet ended his afternoon. Van Gisbergen, meanwhile, went for a high-speed ride through the infield grass.

“It’s all my fault, obviously,” Larson said. “In my brain, I knew the [No.] 45 had been inside of me, and then I got clear of him, and I wanted to just cut distance, and I guess the [No.] 97 was out of my corner mirror. So, I hung a left and ran right into him. I guess my comment that I didn’t know I was three wide, which I never was, I just didn’t realize that the [No.] 97 had ever gotten inside the [No.] 45.”

The incident, which occurred on lap 160, happened from inside the top five. Larson was running third, and van Gisbergen was charging from the fourth position.

Larson had led the most laps in the race at that point (48). He has yet to win a superspeedway race.

“It’s all my fault,” Larson said. “I hate it. I need to listen more, I guess, and not just react off what I feel sometimes. I had a lot of fun today. Our Valvoline Chevy was really strong and cool to be up in the front, and in the mix, and just made a big error there.

“So, I hate it and really, really hate it for my team. I wish we could be out there.”