Kyle Larson claims that Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick convened an appointment with all four HMS teams ahead of this weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after his late-race collision with driver Chase Elliott last week.
“Rick called a meeting with all four teams and just kind of reiterated his expectations with us drivers, so it’s good to get those reminders every now and then,” Larson said Saturday.
“We’ll continue to race good in the future with each other, so I’ll catch up more with Chase here in a little bit and we’ll be good.”
Due to travel responsibilities, Larson noted that the meeting will not be held in person.
He also mentioned that it was the first time he’d seen Rick Hendrick play such a role in a meeting since joining the team ahead of the 2021 season.
“(Hendrick’s) been to competition meetings and stuff like that, and we’ve had multiple meetings about different things,” Larson said. “But as far as racing and stuff, that’s the first one I can remember him getting involved in.
“I think we all know his expectations and after the incident last weekend, it was good for him to get involved again and tell us what the expectations are.”
Larson and Elliott collided with Joey Logano with 21 circuits to go in last Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway while vying for the lead.
After being pushed against the wall, Elliott vented his displeasure with Larson on his team’s radio. Larson proceeded to win, while Elliott, who had a damaged car, placed 26th.
Tyler Monn, Larson’s spotter, later claimed blame for the event on social media. Larson stated his relationship with Monn had been great on Saturday.
“Tyler’s great,” he said. “I’ve been very, very happy with him as my spotter. The way things worked out for us to get him last year was so last-minute, but I feel like we ended up with the best option I can have as a driver. He’s been great. We’ve had a lot of success together and I trust him a lot.
“We’ve talked quite a bit this week. We both are learning these new (Next Gen) cars. The runs are huge, so there’s a lot to be learned. You have to have some incidents sometimes to really learn quickly and that’s what we’re going to do going forward.”
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