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NASCAR Wise Power 400 ended with Kyle Larson claiming his first win of the 2022 Cup Series season.
His teammate Chase Elliott, of car #9, however, was upset with the Hendricks Motorsports #5 driver for blocking him and pushing the car. As a result, it scraped the wall with 22 laps remaining, taking Elliott out of the race.
Meanwhile, Larson later highlighted that even if they meet, Elliott will still be upset with him. In an interview with the media, he said:
“Either way I’m sure he’ll still be upset even if we’re on the same page or not. It’s just a conversation that we’ll have, and we’re both young, we both respect each other a lot, so we’ll both be racing for wins for many years to come.”
Watch the incident in the video below:
Meanwhile, Hendricks Motorsports is planning to have a meeting to discuss the issue. Frustrated by Kyle Larson's actions, Elliott requested that they address the incident in-house. Larson later said:
“It happened, and I hate that it did. I know they’re upset. But we’ll talk, and hopefully we’ll get on the same page. I would never run into my teammate or block him that aggressively and that late on purpose.”
Jeff Andrews, the general manager for the team, stated that they will have a meeting on Monday, February 28, and on Tuesday, March 1, to table the issue as they prepare to go to Las Vegas in a good spot. He also mentioned that Jeff Gordon and Rick Hendrick will be attending the meeting.
Kyle Larson's spotter takes the blame
Speaking after the race, Kyle Larson was remorseful for the action. In his statement, he mentioned that he was not careful checking his car mirror. He also believed it was probably a mistake from both the drivers, adding that his spotter did not alert him.
Larson's spotter Tyler Monn took the blame and took to Twitter, writing:
“Today I made a mistake. I will take full responsibility for what happen on track today. I was more worried about the 22 and not the 9. It was a late call on me it had nothing to do with Kyle.”
Explaining the incident, Larson stated that he was focused on Joey Logano and that his spotter did not tell him that Elliot was in fast motion. He also added that he could have avoided the mess if at all he could have seen it coming
