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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Kyle Larson could only shrug his shoulders and muster a smile standing on the far end of pit road following a heart-breakingly close effort at winning the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
His No. 42 Target Chevrolet led Lap 199 of the 200-lap race but he ran out of gas on the final half circuit, gliding around to finish 12th in NASCAR’s “Great American Race.”
The 24-year-old Californian was both disappointed not to collect the trophy, but also quite encouraged to have run so well on his sport’s biggest stage.
“We had pitted on our window and thought I had saved enough (fuel),” Larson said. “We got single file there at the end but I knew we had to make a move and I had my fingers crossed I had saved enough. But we were half a lap short and lost the race.
“Disappointing way to lose the 500, but satisfying to know we could pass cars and get to the lead and have fun. I tried my best to stay out of trouble and almost had a shot to win.”
Larson’s Ganassi team looked strong leading into the sport’s biggest race.
His teammate Jamie McMurray was runner-up in Thursday’s first Duel qualifier and he ran up front for significant time Sunday, too — leading 13 laps and earning four points for his Stage 1 effort. He ultimately was caught up in a multicar accident on Lap 142 and finished 28th.
Larson also picked up points in both stages — enough to put him one point below fourth-place Daytona 500 finisher Aric Almirola in the overall standings at seventh. Larson earned five points for finishing sixth in Stage 1, and three points for finishing eighth in Stage 2.
It shows great progress — and promise — at Daytona International Speedway giving him three straight top-12 showings. He was seventh in last year’s Daytona 500 and sixth in the summer’s Coke Zero 400 — after finishing 34th or worse in his first four Cup starts at the track.
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