DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Owen Larson called it when he said his dad wouldn’t win the Daytona 500 because “he probably needs to try really hard because he’s not good at superspeedway racing.”
The 10-year-old was right in his assessment. Kyle Larson can win just about anywhere in any type of car. But when it comes to Daytona and Talladega, NASCAR’s 2021 Cup Series champion is a disaster.
Larson dropped to 0 for 22 at Daytona International Speedway — it’s 0 for 42 in the Cup Series once Talladega Superspeedway’s stats are included — when he finished 20th in Sunday night’s Daytona 500.
The Associated Press was embedded with the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team with a front row seat for his 201 frustrating laps in which Larson complained over his radio that “I make all the wrong moves. Any move I make is the wrong one.”
His exacerbation only mounted when all three of his Hendrick teammates led laps, William Byron won for a second consecutive year, and Byron and Alex Bowman finished inside the top-six. Chase Elliott was 15th.
Jeff Gordon, the vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports and a three-time Daytona 500 winner, didn’t dispute Larson’s notion of not being able to properly navigate the pack racing typical of Daytona International Speedway.
“I noticed that,” he said of Larson’s declaration he couldn’t make a single right move. “I can be hard on him because I love Kyle and I think he’s amazing.”
Larson is amazing and opened 2025 with a slew of victories, including in sprint cars in Australia, the Chili Bowl and at Volusia Speedway in the lead-up to the Daytona 500.
But, just as his oldest son predicted, he was a non-factor at Daytona despite every motivational speech crew chief Cliff Daniels tried on his driver. The two have been paired since Larson moved to Hendrick and the No. 5 team in 2021 and won 10 races and the Cup title.
Larson has won 23 Cup races since his move to Hendrick, and for that, the leadership at Hendrick is able to give him a pass on his struggles at superspeedways.
“Gosh, the guy is not perfect,” Gordon said, but added that his struggles have now become bigger than just not being able to feel confident at Daytona or Talladega.
“I think now I’m starting to see it’s getting in his head. I’ve had a few conversations with him, and like, ‘Man, just go for it, just forget about it, don’t try to even overthink it,’” Gordon said. “I don’t know what advice to give him other than — all I told him today is ‘Just be Kyle Larson. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Don’t look at what somebody else is doing that’s having success. Just go out there and execute, and the other things will turn around and come your way eventually.’”
Byron was quick to point out that not winning the season-opening race means little for Larson in the grand scheme of things. The next month includes Cup races at Phoenix, where Larson won the race to clinch the 2021 championship, and Las Vegas, where two of his three career wins have come in the last three visits to the desert track.
“Wait until we get to Vegas, and he’ll just be ripping,” Byron said.
Larson’s difficulties at Daytona could be traced to his 2013 Xfinity Series debut at the track. He sailed into the fence and destroyed his car in a frightening crash for a driver who had skyrocketed from sprint cars to the top level of racing in the United States. Although he won the Xfinity race in 2018, he’s never really been a factor in the Daytona 500, where he dropped to 0 for 12 in “The Great American Race.”
Larson figures his career resume would be fine without a Daytona 500 victory. He’s won every other crown jewel: NASCAR’s All-Star race in 2019, 2021 and 2023; the 2021 Coca-Cola 600; the 2023 Southern 500; and the 2024 Brickyard 400.
“Like, I’m not going to lose sleep if I don’t ever win this race, but I still want to win the race and have that ring and that trophy and be a part of the names that have won it,” Larson said. “But again, I think there’s a lot else, a lot more that goes into winning and a lot of luck. It’s not a big deal.”
Gordon said Larson and Daniels have a lot of soul-searching to do to make success on superspeedways happen.
“It’s a head-scratcher for sure, for he and Cliff and the whole team,” Gordon said. “But I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”
Owen Larson, perhaps his father’s harshest critic, disagrees. Until his father gets better, his oldest child believes Daytona is always going to be a struggle for Larson.
“He has to try harder,” Owen Larson said. And what specific area? “Probably drafting.”
Perhaps Larson should take his son’s advice before NASCAR gets to Talladega later this spring.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Kyle Larson waits while his crew makes adjustments to his car during a practice session for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, July 15, 2025, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Denny Hamlin (11), Austin Cindric (2), Kyle Larson (5) and Joey Logano (22) head to turn 1 during early laps of the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Kyle Larson (5), Cole Custer (41), Anthony Alfredo (62), and BJ McLeod (78) crash during the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto races Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.
The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”
On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”
“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.
“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.
Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.
“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”
Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.
“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”
Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.
In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.
A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”
The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.
Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.
He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.
The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.
Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.
Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.
U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.
“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.
A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.
Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
People place flowers for a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Friday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Demonstrators march outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Rep. Kelly Morrison D-Minn., center, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., second from the right, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., far right, at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference as Police Chief Brian O'Hara listens, on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents stand outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building as protesters gather in Minneapolis, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents look on as protesters gather during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman holds a sign for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier in the week, as people gather outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
Two people sit in the street with their hands up in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Minnesota State Patrol officers are seen during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Two people sit in the street holding hands in front of Minnesota State Patrol during a protest and noise demonstration calling for an end to federal immigration enforcement operations in the city, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
