Kyle Larson slams into safety barrels entering pit road late at Homestead-Miami

Big trouble for Kyle Larson late in the 4EVER 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Battling with Ryan Blaney, entering pit road went horribly wrong. Larson thought he’d jump over Blaney on pit road, but he couldn’t make the entry. The NASCAR driver took heavy damage.

Kyle Larson said on his radio he didn’t expect Ryan Blaney to slow down that hard. Blaney led and Larson was P2 entering pit road. The No. 5 car came up fast behind the 12 and had to make a move. It was right into the sand barrels at the entrance of pit road.

A terrible break for Larson. His car took a lot of damage. Good news is he won last week, so he’s locked into Phoenix. However, this was a race he wanted to win, badly. Now, he’s going to be a DNF. A red flag has come out due to the cleanup work on the sand.

Here’s how Kyle Larson wrecked entering pit road.

Larson hits the barriers at the entrance of pit road! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/13MvjQr6wc

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) October 22, 2023

“I was just maximizing all that I could and I didn’t expect him to slow down so early. You know, I was just trying to get to the yellow line as quickly as possible and felt like I was in control. From my vantage point, he slowed down a lot but from there it just looks like I bomb it in there.” Larson said after his wreck. “I just need to look at some data and see where I was relative to pit road speed and all that.”

Kyle Larson is locked into Phoenix. So, this is going to sting a lot less than it would have otherwise. While he was determined to win this race for a second straight year, it didn’t happen. Whether Blaney slowed up or not, Larson was trailing him. He has to react to what Blaney does better in that case.

After an extensive cleanup, track officials have got this race ready for the final 50 laps or so. It is going to be a showdown to the finish.

Kyle Larson gifts Ryan Blaney the lead

Of course, the idea of pitting first was to jump ahead of the field and hold onto track position. Martin Truex Jr. made an early stop, but Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson were about to start the full cycle of green flag stops.

However, with his wreck, Larson stopped all of that from happening. Now, those that didn’t pit before will need to pit. Ryan Blaney is going to simply cycle through and find his way back to the lead again. He will have tires that are a little older than others. Still, it should be a good thing for the 12 team.

Entering the race 17 points under the cutline, Blaney doesn’t need to win to advance. Still, a win would be the only way to guarantee his shot at a championship.

Kyle Larson might be out of commission for the day, but he’s not done yet. He will go into next week planning on competing for another win at Martinsville. Then he will be there in Phoenix to try and win his second championship in just three short years.