NASCAR insider ‘very disappointed’ by Kansas crowd

Kansas Speedway has become one of the more exciting destinations on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule over the past couple of seasons. Jeff Gluck of The Athletic expected a large, enthusiastic crowd for Sunday’s race as a result, but that didn’t come to fruition.

On the episode of The Teardown following Kyle Larson’s win inside the Sunflower State, Gluck tried to make sense of it all. He recognizes it was Mother’s Day, but he still was majorly disappointed with the lack of turnout at Kansas over the weekend.

“I saw the crowd today at Kansas and I was very disappointed. I’ll be honest, very disappointed. I don’t understand where all the people were today at Kansas,” Gluck stated. “It had been — you didn’t know how the race was gonna go today. That you know, it was going to be a butt-kicking from Kyle Larson. But why were the stands only like half full here today at Kansas? I know it was Mother’s Day, but based on how good the racing has been here, shouldn’t it have been just a much bigger crowd? I don’t know.

“It’s like — man, I don’t know where everybody was. I mean, to me, I was more excited to come to this racetrack than pretty much any other this year. I’m just like, dude, it wasn’t even just like — it’s an okay crowd. It seemed like a disappointing crowd to me.”

History indicated a better race than we saw on Sunday was on the docket for Kansas. All told, that’s not what we got, as Larson was unbeatable over the weekend, but that’s not something fans knew before deciding not to come to the track on Mother’s Day.

All around, it was a bit of a disappointing weekend for NASCAR, but don’t tell Kyle Larson that. Next weekend, the All Star Race at North Wilkesboro will take center stage. That’s bound to draw a raucous crowd, at least.

More on the NASCAR Cup Series, Kansas Speedway

Alas, the fans who did come out to the track on Sunday didn’t see a particularly exciting race. Kyle Larson stunk it up. He started on pole, won Stage 1, won Stage 2, led 221 laps, had the fastest lap and of course, won the race.

It was the perfect weekend at Kansas. Those 221 laps out front set a NASCAR record for most laps led in a Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, as well.

The former Cup Series champion was impossible to stop on Sunday, and that’s what he can do when he’s on. He almost hinted at the fact that this race might be a bit “boring” earlier in the weekend, then he went out and dominated a very good Cup Series field at Kansas. 

Last year, he won by 0.001 seconds. This year, he led 200+ laps and coasted to the finish as his tires appeared to wear out in the final turns. What a win. Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels remain an elite and dangerous duo, and that second Cup championship might not be far away.

— On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.