Kyle Larson has been garnering a lot of attention so far this season, with the Chip Ganassi Racing driver and Sprint Cup Series rookie far exceeding even the most optimistic expectations to date.
He added to his burgeoning legend on Sunday by placing second in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, only a week after coming in third at Chicagoland Speedway during the opener for the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup.
The 22-year-old started from the 10th position and struggled early on before he eventually fought his way back.
Larson was able to pass both Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski after the final restart, which came with two laps to go, on his way to a second-place finish behind Joey Logano.
"We struggled quite a bit most of the weekend," said Larson. "Then to start the race, I started 10th, fell back to, I think, almost outside of the top 20. We definitely weren't even a top 15 car for the first hundred laps of the race. Everyone on the Target team did a great job. Pretty crazy how it went from bad to really good with a flip of a switch, it seemed like. Didn't think we'd be a second-place finisher. We weren't a second-place car by any means."
Things may not have felt good, but they certainly ended well for the young driver. Larson actually finished third during a race in July on the same track, but seemed perplexed when asked how he managed the same feat twice.
"I really don't know," he said. "I feel like this is the type of track that doesn't suit my driving style. I really think it's just 'cause I got a good team. They get me up front at the end of the races. It's so hard to pass here. Once you get up front, if you just maintain your ground, hopefully you don't back up."
"That's kind of what we did both races here at Loudon, was do some pit strategy things the first race to get up front, and stayed there the whole race. Then this race, once all the cautions started happening, we just missed the wrecks, would line up in the right rows, get to the front. The 55 (Brian Vickers) had to pit in front of us for fuel. We were kind of gambling, I guess, but the cautions worked out."
His early success has taken many in the sport by surprise, but even with his continued rise, he has yet to find his way to a victory. But if his finishes at Chicagoland and New Hampshire are any indication, a spot in Victory Lane is only a matter of when, not if.
He has already garnered the respect of fellow racers, with Jeff Gordon predicting after Chicagoland that Larson wasn't far off from the thus-far elusive first win.
"Yeah, I mean, it means a lot," Larson said. "I think it means a lot to them to see a rookie that can battle with them up front each and every week, race them hard but race them clean. Got to do the same thing I've been doing, but hopefully start winning races."
