BREAKING NEWS: HendrickCars Sponsors of Kyla Larson Are Set to Parts Ways With NASCAR Driver Kyla Larson Due to Another Brutal Clash With Driver

Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch collided on the final lap of Stage 2 during Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Prior to the collision, the two former champions were running in the top ten.

Larson was racing to the left of Busch into Turn 1 when his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet snapped sideways. That skid sent him straight into Busch, who smacked the outside SAFER barrier in Turn 2. The crash ruined Busch’s day after he led 15 laps in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, his first since May 5 in Kansas.

Busch, the defending Gateway winner, instead leaves with his first DNF of the season and the first since the playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway in September 2023.

“It looked like he got loose, I guess, down the front straightaway into Turn 1,” Busch told reporters after being examined and released from the infield care centre. “He was on ancient tires and attempting to get us a position. I’m not sure what that single point meant for him, but it certainly damaged us because it took that point away, as well as the ones we’d get for the stage and the remainder of the day. So frustrating.

“We can’t afford days like that,” added Busch, who finishes 15th or lower for the fourth time in six races at Gateway. “The Rebel Camaro wasn’t as good as it was last year, but it was still in the top ten, and we expected to finish there. But now we aren’t going to finish at all.”

While Busch finished 35th, Larson, a two-time winner this year, battled through the contact to finish 10th. The 2021 Cup champion was unable to compete in last week’s Coca-Cola 600 due to inclement weather.

“We were nearing the end of that stage, and I was slightly better than him,” Larson told reporters after the race. “Left (Turn) 4 to side-draft him, barely touching his quarter panel.” I do not know. I’m guessing it irritated him, so he squeezed into me. I honestly believed I had a flat (tire) when I drove into 1, because it flipped around backwards, but I think he just took the air out of me and spun.”