Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson certainly did not earn much favors from the Kaulig Racing team last weekend at the LA Coliseum. During the race, the HMS driver punted Justin Haley into the wall, just as the latter was in a great position.
Eventually, it prompted some heated comments from Haley spotter in the immediate aftermath of the incident. Now that Larson has had time to cool down and reflect back, the 29-y-o analyzed the matter with a cooler head.
Larson admitted that he overreacted to the supposed initial contact with Justin Haley. confessing he was at fault in the accident, he said that he felt bad about dashing Haley’s hopes.
“I’ll start off by saying I overreacted,” Larson said. “I’ll play it out in my mind. I went down the backstretch and knew (Haley) was on my outside. I got clear late in the straightaway, and the next thing I know, he was running the left side of me.
You just see red really quickly. ‘Dang it.’ It was like, ‘Now I’m stuck on the outside, and I’m about to get shoved really far back, and I’m mad at you,’ so, yes, I hung a left on him.”
William Byron got into the back of Haley and bumped him into Larson. However, Larson felt that Haley was the primary instigator and took his revenge. following that incident, the Kaulig Racing outfit did not appreciate Larson’s sense of justice and made their feelings clear.
“Kyle threw a temper tantrum and wrecked us. Pretty simple.” – Justin Haley’s Spotter calls out Kyle Larson
💥Fireworks already in 2022!💥@Justin_Haley_'s spotter @SpotterBrett fills us in on what exactly happened between Haley and the reigning champion @KyleLarsonRacin.
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Google: https://t.co/jnfmSnunFY pic.twitter.com/TI0AxGEHyR— Dirty Mo Media (@DirtyMoMedia) February 9, 2022
Larson continued, “I did not want to crash him, but I wanted that inside lane for the next corner. So I felt really bad. Instantly felt bad that I crashed him. He came over and talked to me after the race. I told him ‘I’m sorry that I wrecked you. Yes, I wish I would have understood the racetrack that we were at and that somebody else probably shoved him into me, and maybe I wouldn’t have overreacted as bad as I did. I definitely felt bad about that. It is what it at this point.”