“It’s not everything”: Kyle Larson shuts down rivals’ claim about Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas

Kyle Larson shared his thoughts on the upcoming Las Vegas race, the South Point 400, scheduled for Sunday. The race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway is set to be the first of three rounds of 8 playoffs, and Larson believes focusing on it is "not everything."

After the playoffs round of 12, NASCAR is all set to start off with the round of 8 at Las Vegas, followed by Talladega and Martinsville, before moving into the final race at Phoenix. A win in any of the three races will see a driver secure their place in the Championship 4.

Larson, who is one of the contenders for the Championship 4, won the race at Las Vegas last year. As he looks forward to yet another qualification, here's what he told the media ahead of Sunday's race:

“I think it’s definitely a benefit,” Larson said. “I think other drivers I’ve heard say it’s, like, everything. I don’t think it’s everything to win this first one, but it is nice to kind of look ahead a little bit. You know, I feel like in the playoffs, you don’t really ever get a chance to look ahead past the week in front of you."

However, Larson also stated that Las Vegas is not the only race that guarantees qualification:

"So if you win this first race, to take a little bit of focus off of the next couple and start digging through qualifying and practice and stuff like that at Phoenix is important. But again, it’s not everything," Larson further added. (Via NASCAR.com)

Currently, Kyle Larson is above the playoff cutline with +4 points to his name. He is in P3, ahead of his HMS teammate, William Byron, who is also with +4 points. Denny Hamlin is leading the standings with +8 points, followed by Ryan Blaney.

On the other hand, Larson's teammate, Chase Elliott, is below the playoff cutline with -14 points to his name. Besides him, Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and Joey Logano are also at risk of elimination after three races.

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Where does Kyle Larson start on Sunday's Las Vegas Motor Speedway race?

Kyle Larson starts Sunday's South Point 400 race from P6 after a decent qualifying effort. Driving the HendrickCars.com/Zac Brown Band Chevrolet, the #5 driver managed 29.238 on the timesheet.

Kyle Larson (5) drives at Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course - Source: Imagn

Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing claimed the pole position with a 29.213 time on the sheet. He denied his teammate, Chase Briscoe, the pole, who had 29.249 on the timesheet.

Larson's teammate, Elliott, starts from P4, ahead of another teammate, Byron. Kyle Larson has three wins to his name in 32 races, where he also picked up a pole, 12 Top 5s, and 19 Top 10s. He led 971 laps and has an average start position of 11.844 and an average finish position of 13.719.

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Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas