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Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe Take Massive Hits In Stage 1 At Atlanta Motor Speedway

by Hunter Thomas September 8, 2024 0 comments

HAMPTON, Ga. – NASCAR Playoff contenders, Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe endured extremely hard hits in Stage 1 of Sunday’s Quaker State 400 available at Walmart at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

As the laps were ticking away, Larson was battling for a stage win; however, his hunt for a victory came to a scary stop when his Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 Chevrolet violently shot to the right and hard into the outside wall on Lap 57. Larson was running third at the time, and as he slid back down the track, Briscoe, with nowhere to go, slammed into the rear of his car.

“I’m OK,” Larson said. “Thankfully everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know.. it all just happened really fast.”

Larson doesn’t know what caused the crash, and there was no warning prior to the car snapping loose.

“No, not at all,” Larson said when asked if there was any warning. “Never.. not once. If anything, I was getting tighter and tighter. So yeah, it just caught me way off guard. I was never once loose, even in that corner. And then, it just started stepping out. I corrected it and overcorrected it, I guess.”

As for Briscoe, he was running 14^th at the time of the crash. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver saw the smoke and tried to dive down to avoid Larson, but he just wasn’t quick enough.

“I didn’t expect anybody to wreck because they weren’t really two-wide, and then I saw the smoke and tried slowing down,” Briscoe said. “ I knew he was coming down the racetrack and just kept trying to feed the thing left and slow it down and I couldn’t get left quick enough and then he kind of started sliding back down the track at the very last minute, so I tried to turn back right to avoid him and just KO’d him. It was a big hit. One of the biggest hits I’ve had in a long time. I’m glad I’m alright and we just have to go win. That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.”

Larson entered Sunday’s race as the NASCAR Playoffs leader, eight points ahead of Bell, but with a 37^th place finish, he’ll definitely take a big hit in the standings. Briscoe entered the race coming off a win in the Cook Out Southern 500, but now he’ll have to perform really well in the next two races in order to make his way into the top-12 for the next round. Briscoe will be credited with the 38^th and final finishing position on Sunday.

The Quaker State 400 available at Walmart is currently live on USA.

Photo Credit: Tyler Goodson/TheFourthTurn.com