Steve Letarte, Jeff Burton pull no punches in assessing Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric incident at Atlanta

By being one of the most talented and aggressive drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, Kyle Larson has made a fair share of mistakes. He made one during the Atlanta race last Sunday, for sure.

Coming out of Turn 4, Kyle Larson tried to take a run and make a pass on Austin Cindric. It would have been a remarkable move… if it had worked.

However, Larson could not clear Cindric, put the 2 car in the wall and ultimately wrecked his teammate William Byron in the process. Larson went on to finish P3 under caution during overtime.

So, what do a pair of old veterans think about the situation?

“I think that’s important because we cheat, Jeff, we have slow motion,” Steve Letarte said to Jeff Burton on Inside the Race. “It looks so easy frame by frame, we forget that at 190 miles an hour, it’s nearly a football field a second. Stuff’s happening fast.”

Burton chimed in with his take on things. Ultimately, decisions are left up to drivers. Kyle Larson is the only one who has the final say in making a move like that.

“It’s happening so fast, Steve,” Burton replied. “And spotters do an incredible job, and to be honest, they don’t always have the best angle. If you’re standing where the spotter’s stand is, you’re looking toward Turn 4, it’s really, really hard, if it’s tight. … So, they don’t always have the best angle. And ultimately it’s why I say it all the time, it’s the driver who makes the final decision. The spotter is giving information, but the driver is the only one who goes to the infield care center, he goes there by himself. He’s the one who makes the final decision. But those decisions are made in milliseconds, they’re not in seconds.”

Finally, Letarte gave his side of things. He also places blame on Larson, which I think the Hendrick driver has already admitted to.

“Well, Kim [Coon], I’m going to peel the bandaid off,” Letarte said. “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug. So, this is Kyle Larson’s fault. I don’t blame him, I don’t think it was egregious. Like I said, I don’t think his plan was to wreck Austin Cindric, his plan was to win the race and wrecking Austin Cindric was kind of what happened, that was the result.”

Kyle Larson wasn’t trying to wreck Austin Cindric. This is all a result of high-speed racing and drivers like Larson feeling they can take those risks. It didn’t work out this time around, but soon enough we will see Larson make a similar move that incredibly wins him a race or two.