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Kevin Harvick circles another catastrophic error for Kyle Larson, team

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•about 23 hours
Kyle Larson (13)
Aug 18, 2024; Brooklyn, Michigan, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (5) leads the race during the FireKeepers 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a bit of a disastrous start to the season for Kyle Larson and it can’t entirely be blamed on his driving. His pit crew has also had some costly mistakes.

On Sunday in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA, Larson ran into trouble when his front right tire came off.

It rolled down the track and caused the caution flag to come out, throwing a massive wrench into Kyle Larson’s race. Worse, it came right after Larson had made a pit stop. At the time, the crew worked primarily on the opposite side of his car as the wheel that came loose.

NASCAR insider Kevin Harvick, a former veteran driver, weighed in on the issues on the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast.

“Well we’ve been very critical of Kyle Busch‘s situation because he’s been running up front and had these scenarios happen like you see right here with the wheel falling off, or pit road penalties,” Harvick said. “But we have seen this weakness out of the 5 car as they’ve gone through the last couple years for sure. They’ve had some catastrophic pit stop moments that have taken them out of races. This was actually another one of those moments that will have the effect of things with suspensions and like that going forward.”

It’s not even the first time in the last year that Kyle Larson has lost a tire.

His crew also contributed to him losing one at Texas Motor Speedway last April. That one came on an extended run, so it wasn’t quite clear what happened.

But the bottom line is the Kyle Larson team has an issue right now.

“There’s a lot of pressure on these pit crew guys,” Harvick said. “The pit stops are super fast and you have to be right on the edge of making a mistake. These guys have definitely made a few more mistakes than most of the guys on pit road.”

So what’s the plan going forward for Kyle Larson, who has notched P3 (Atlanta), P20 (Daytona) and P32 (COTA) finishes this year?

“I’d rather be a little bit slow than make the catastrophic mistakes,” Harvick said. “But it seems like we’ve definitely seen a little bit of a pattern with these guys of having some of those catastrophic failures on pit road.”