Larson: Las Vegas test "more important" with track's playoff race

Among his many exploits over the last two months, Larson has raced in New Zealand and competed in the Chili Bowl.

Larson was one of over a dozen drivers to participate Wednesday in the first day of a two-day NASCAR organizational test, and it was also his first laps in Chevrolet’s new Camaro ZL1 model Cup car.

“I get a lot out of it, especially being the first test of the year; getting familiar with the car and just getting laps,” Larson said. “And then you know, out here, obviously you don’t have a lot of cars, the groove doesn’t move up as much as it will for the race weekend, but the weather is always pretty consistent out here.

“The rubber and all that, it’s like I said, consistent and you can get a decent balance on your car from when you come back in a month or two, or whatever it is.  This is the first time I’ve gotten to really test a 1.5-mile (track) in the off-season, which is nice as well.”

The Atlanta and Las Vegas races generally set a tone for the season, as 1.5-mile tracks make up the bulk of the Cup series schedule, including the playoffs.

Las Vegas has added significance this year as it now has a second race date which will kick-off the start of the playoffs.

“I guess maybe with an added race and it being in the playoffs this test becomes a little more important,” he said. “Every test is important because you want to come back and have good speed, but you know when you are coming back here for a playoff race it’s just that much more important. 

“I don’t know if we put any more focus on the test or what, but hopefully, we learn a lot to where we are fast both races.”

Larson’s record at Las Vegas has been mixed. In four career Cup starts, he has finished 19th or worse twice and eighth or better twice, including a runner-up finish one year ago.

Results at testing are difficult to translate to race performance, but being among the faster cars is still better than being at the bottom of the speed chart.

“I think you can get a decent judge off of kind of where you stack up against other teams.  But it’s also hard because you don’t know who is pushing the limits on their bodies and stuff here or whatever they are doing,” Larson said. 

“In that aspect you don’t really know where you stand, but I feel good about it and I think you can still get somewhat of a decent idea on who is going to be fast when we get to Atlanta.

“It was nice to get some laps here and feel like we’ve got some pretty good speed and good balance with our new Camaro ZL1. Pretty good test so far.”