"I see everybody racing pretty hard," predicts Kyle Larson for NASCAR Talladega race this weekend

After a P9 finish in last weekend's AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500, Hendrick Motorsport's Kyle Larson is one driver who thinks racing at the upcoming Talladega Superspeedway is going to see drivers throw caution to the wind. The Yellawood 500 marks NASCAR's second visit to 'Dega', the biggest oval on the series' calendar, standing at 2.66-miles-long.

Known for its intense high-speed racing and spectacular crashes, the Lincoln, Alabama track will play a key role in how playoff contenders advance to the round. Especially after quite a few title challengers had an off-day at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson thinks the field will be racing aggressively this Sunday.

Larson also backed up his argument by highlighting the stage points available for playoff contenders to grab. Just as we saw last weekend, Stage 1 of the Texas race saw him and Hamlin nearly crash trying to grab points. Larson further elaborated on whether he thinks drivers will take it easy and said:

“I don’t think so just because there’s so many stage points on the line. Yes, there might be a couple that do that, but I feel like you typically don’t see that. I think there’s so many stage points on the line that if you can get those points then, even if you wreck, you’ll have a decent points day out of it. I see everybody racing pretty hard.”

The 30-year-old Elk Grove, California native has had a decent run at Talladega Superspeedway in the past. Kyle Larson managed his best finish at the track earlier this year with a P4 and has one top-5 and three top-10s to his name from his 15 prior visits to the oval.

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Kyle Larson's crew chief looks back at P4 finish at Talladega earlier this season

Kyle Larson's crew chief at the #5 team at Hendrick Motorsports, Cliff Daniels, seemed to think the #5 hendrickcars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver got lucky earlier in the year to finish in P4 at the 2.66-mile-long track. Daniels elaborated on how a mix of luck and strategy is required to win at a speedway and said:

“I would say more luck because we were able to stay out of the wrecks. From a strategic standpoint, everything we accomplished that race is the exact strategy we try to implement every speedway race. We try to get up front and stay up front. We try to have a good driving car that can pass and draft and do all the things you need it to do. We try to be on the right side of pit strategy while working with our teammates and other Chevrolet teams.”

Watch Kyle Larson try and solidify his championship charge this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway for the Yellawood 500 at 2:00 pm ET on Sunday.