“I don’t think it mattered”: Kyle Larson rules out benefitting from tire test after Iowa pole 

NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson recently commented on the tire test held in Iowa back in May, after the qualifying session at the Iowa Corn 350. Kyle Larson spent a day testing tires at the speedway on 28th May.

Larson, when asked about how the tire test at Iowa benefited him, said,

"I don't think it mattered because the track was so different when we were here a couple of weeks ago. I think we tested here for around 7 hours or so, and the first 4 and a half hours were not even remotely close to what it is this weekend, and even by the end of it, it felt way different yesterday than it ever did."

All four turns at Iowa Speedway have been partially repaved. This includes two lanes of the entrances and exits of turns two and four, leaving only a small section of the original track near the wall in each turn. These new changes to the track have been a point of intrigue for all the teams that will be racing on Sunday.

The qualifying session on Saturday was divided into two rounds but was cut down to one due to consistent weather delays. Regardless, the qualifying session was still run in groups. Larson was the last driver out of the garage, which in turn helped him observe all the other drivers. It allowed him to study how the car performs on certain portions of the track before he himself attempted a qualifying lap.

In addition, Larson expressed gratitude to his team for their diligent work in preparing the car for qualifying. He said,

"In our team, we've got great teammates to rely on. A couple of them went really fast yesterday, so we got to study what they had, and talk and I think we have made our car better." [00:31]

Ahead of the Cup Series race at Iowa, Kyle Larson sits in pole position, having beaten Ryan Blaney on his final qualifying lap. Larson secured a time of 23.084 seconds.

---

Kyle Larson and two other drivers react after their tire test at Iowa

Kyle Larson, along with Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell, tested their tires at Iowa on May 28th. It was the first time Larson sat in a stock car after what happened at the IndyCar 500 on 26th May.

The drivers were asked about their impressions of the track's performance following their tire testing in Iowa.

Kyle Larson said,

The test was difficult with just three cars, on a really brand-new surface ...I think with 30-something cars, the grooves should hopefully widen out from what it was,"

Keselowski has this to say:

"I'm optimistic that the track is going to bring the tire drag-ins and all those things out. That'll open the track to multi-groove racing."

Christopher Bell also shared his views:

"It's super grippy, lots of grip. You're not going to be out of the new pavement, that's for sure."

All three drivers have secured a seat in the playoffs. Larson starts the Iowa Corn 350 in pole position, with Keselowski 6th on the grid and Bell in 10th place, respectively.