Kyle Larson is down three pit crew members who are serving suspensions for Sunday’s GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
As a result, Hendrick Motorsports has borrowed a few members from Corey LaJoie’s team to help out Larson at Talladega. Larson, who will start at the rear of the field on Sunday, said his initial reaction was that he felt bad for LaJoie, who is losing the bulk of his pit crew. He added he doesn’t feel they have to change anything despite being with an unfamiliar team.
“When I was reading the whole roster I went, ‘Man, I feel bad for Corey because he’s losing most of his team.’ … I don’t think there’s anything that I have to do differently, just be consistent in hitting my marks and all that,” Larson said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “I don’t think I need to change anything, and I don’t think really think they should change anything either trying to get used to me. Think Cliff has talked to them quite a bit this week about just not being too flashy and just laying down solid, consistent stops. That’s my goal as well.
“I know they’ll be good because Corey’s pit crew has been extremely fast all year. I think Hendrick has a lot of depth, which is good.”
NASCAR levies penalties against Kyle Larson, car chief at Talladega
Larson’s rear tire changer and jackman are serving two-race suspensions for a wheel coming off last Sunday at Texas. His fueler is serving a one race suspension for an apron violation during the Xfinity Series race.
Larson, who was scratched for qualifying for unapproved adjustments to the roof rails, will serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race, NASCAR announced. Larson’s car chief has been ejected. His No. 5 Chevrolet passed through inspection and is ready for the race.
Larson is the current points leader, having won at Las Vegas last month. After sitting on the pole for three consecutive races, Larson will start 38th at Talladega.
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