Memorable Starts - Kyle Larson's Final Start With Chip Ganassi Racing

Hello everyone! One of your three proud leaders of Nascar Amino, Tanor Campos, here and welcome to the newest installment of Memorable Starts on NA! Today's first installment of Memorable Starts in 2025 will revisit the unexpected final race for Kyle Larson with Chip Ganassi Racing as the future Nascar Cup Series champ got behind the wheel of the 42 car for one last ride before his life was flipped upside down. Anyways, with that being said, I hope y'all enjoy the first installment of Memorable Starts in 2025 and if you wish to keep up with any of my latest blogs on Nascar Amino then please consider ing my public blogging chatroom to stay up-to-date with my content in 2025!

Kyle Larson's Performance In His Final Race With CGR

Kyle Larson would come into the 4th race of the 2020 Nascar Cup Series season sitting 9th in the championship standings (17 points above the cutoff) with 2 top 10 finishes in the first 3 events as the 42 CGR team was looking to keep the momentum going. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet showed some promising pace over the course of the race weekend at Phoenix Raceway as Kyle Larson was 15th fastest in first practice and 21st fastest in final practice before claiming 4th place starting spot for the Fan Shield 500. Kyle Larson took the green flag for the Fan Shield 500 at Phoenix Raceway and immediately ed Denny Hamlin on the highside heading into turn 1 to move himself up into 3rd place before using the Phoenix dogleg on lap 3 to Kevin Harvick for 2nd place. Unfortunately, the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet struggled to keep in touch with the 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet during the beginning of the opening green flag run, which saw Kyle Larson fall down to 3rd place after getting ed by the 4 car.

Kyle Larson would remain in 3rd place until the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet ran into lap traffic, which allowed Denny Hamlin, Matt DiBenedetto Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, and Joey Logano to get around the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet that unfortunately dropped the future NCS champion down to 8th place. The struggles only got worse for Kyle Larson, which saw Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch, Cole Custer, Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Tyler Reddick get around the struggling 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy that unfortunately dropped him down to 17th place before first caution came out. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy restated in 19th place and remained in the same position before the 2nd caution of the race came out on lap 64 for Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney crashing in turn 3 that helped Kyle Larson jump up to 16th place. Kyle Larson would quickly charge his way through the field during the closing moments of stage 1 at Phoenix Raceway, which saw the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet jump up from 16th place to 12th place.

Crew Chief Chad Johnston called Kyle Larson back down pitroad for a pitstop under the yellow flag, which led to the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy restarting the race at Phoenix Raceway from 22nd place on lap 85. Kyle Larson was quickly on the move once the race restarted at Phoenix Raceway as the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet went from 22nd place to 15th place. Unfortunately, the long run was the achilles heel for Kyle Larson, which saw the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet fall down to 16th place after Cole Custer got around him before 4th caution of the race came out. The yellow was a benefit for Kyle Larson, who moved up to 12th place during pitstops under the yellow flag and immediately capitalized on the solid track position by moving up into 9th place during another long run.

Kyle Larson would lose 9th place to Joey Logano, who was recovering from penalty on pitroad, but luckily, the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy remained inside the top 10 before eventually ing Jimmie Johnson for 9th place during the closing moments of stage two in AZ. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet would all the lead lap cars down pitroad for pitstops under the yellow flag, which saw the 42 team help Kyle Larson jump up to 8th place for the restart in AZ. Kyle Larson would hover around 7th-9th place during the beginning of stage 3 at Phoenix, which included an aggressive 3-wide move on Tyler Reddick and Clint Bowyer while going through the dogleg for 7th place. The struggles returned for Kyle Larson as the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was ed by Clint Bowyer, Tyler Reddick, and Chase Elliott that unfortunately dropped the future Nascar Cup Series champion down to 10th place before 6th caution of the race was called.

Kyle Larson and the rest of the lead lap cars returned back down pitroad for pitstops under the yellow flag, but unfortunately, the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team would cost Kyle Larson one spot for the restart in AZ. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was stuck in the middle of all the chaos on the restart, which saw Kyle Larson climb up from 11th place to 9th place before 7th caution came out with 60 laps to go at Phoenix. Crew Chief Chad Johnston called his driver back down pitroad with every lead lap car for pitstops under the yellow flag, which saw the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team help Kyle Larson jump up to P7 for the restart. Unfortunately, Kyle Larson wasn't able to capitalize on the restart as Chase Elliott and Clint Bowyer got around the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, which unfortunately dropped Kyle Larson down to 9th place.

Kyle Larson was able to Aric Almirola for 8th place right as the 8th caution of the race came out with 48 laps to go for Tyler Reddick crashing hard in turn 2 that changed the complexion of the race at Phoenix. Crew Chief Chad Johnston chose to keep Kyle Larson out on the racetrack, which helped the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy jump up to 3rd place for the restart in the 2020 Fan Shield 500 at Phoenix Raceway. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was quickly on the move during the restart, which saw Kyle Larson Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott for the top spot and then proceeded to lead the next two laps. Unfortunately, Kyle Larson began falling down the running order during the next few laps, which saw the 42 CGR Chevrolet get ed by Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch before 9th caution of the race came out.

Kyle Larson was called down pitroad by his crew chief Chad Johnston for what might be the final time in the Fan Shield 500 at Phoenix Raceway, which saw the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team put 4 fresh tires and full tank of fuel before returning back onto the racetrack. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet restated the race in 15th place, and Kyle Larson immediately climbed his way up the order from 15th place to 5th place before 11th caution of the race came out in AZ. Kyle Larson restated the race at Phoenix Raceway in 4th place with 4 laps to go and immediately got stuck in a heated battle with Kyle Busch for 3rd place before the final caution came out with three laps to go in AZ. The race was sent into overtime at Phoenix Raceway, which saw Kyle Larson restart the race in 3rd place but unfortunately couldn't steal the win away or hang onto 3rd place before taking the checkered flag in 4th place.

My Thoughts On Kyle Larson's Performance

Kyle Larson had a great showing in his final start with Chip Ganassi Racing as the years of experience, and the maturity behind the wheel was on full display, which saw a future Nascar Cup Series champion showcase himself in the best way possible at Phoenix. The 42 Chip Ganassi Racing team also did a great job of helping their driver stay in contention for the win throughout most of the race as Kyle Larson was able to use those adjustments which was provided by Chad Johnston very well that almost took him to victory lane. Unfortunately, the Kyle Larson/Chip Ganassi Racing partnership didn't have a happy ending as one slip-up of offensive word ended up changing the complexion of Nascar racing and Chip Ganassi Racing forever.

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