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The 2022 season has been kind to Kyle Larson and team Hendrick Motorsports. The reigning Cup Series champion and his crew arrived in Avondale, Arizona with a victory in Fontana and a second-place finish in Las Vegas.
However, their Ruoff Mortgage 500 performance turned out to be the complete opposite of what they would have hoped to achieve in Arizona.
The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and his team were plagued with mechanical issues throughout the weekend. Larson was relegated to the back of the pack in qualifying due to a steering malfunction.
Come race day, the car developed a severe engine issue in the form of a faulty valve spring. This ultimately led them to retire from the race. Larson explained what happened in the post-race interview, stating:
“I don’t know. I felt it four or five laps before it, well it was just getting worse. Hate that. Our Valvoline Chevy was pretty good, I thought that we were a fourth or fifth place car. Just was just hoping to be a little better than that."
The 2021 champion, however, kept his hopes up and was optimistic for the future, saying:
"We’ll come back strong and reliable. The good thing is we have fast cars, fast engines and great drivers driving these Chevys, so we’ll get some more wins here.”
Kyle Larson and his crew hope to redeem themselves at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in a week's time for the Fold of Honor QuickTrip 500.
Kyle Larson leads Hendrick Motorsports win tally amongst team-mates
The reigning 2021 Cup Series champion is a force to be reckoned with on the track and within the team. The 29-year-old tops the chart for most wins within team Hendrick Motorsports with 11 victories.
Alex Bowman comes in second place with five wins and Chase Elliott in third with two trips to Victory Lane. William Byron wrapped it up with a single win to his name.
Kyle Larson will be looking to extend his lead in the upcoming Folds of Honor QuickTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 21st 2022.
