Daytona has never been good to Larson despite three poles. He is actually 0 for 21 in the Cup Series with nine DNFs, and his Daytona national series debut was terrible: Larson flew into the fence on the final lap of the 2013 Xfinity Series race and demolished his car.

Larson said he wasn't sure how Daytona defeats haunted other drivers, particularly Stewart, who also came up empty in his childhood dream of one day winning the Indianapolis 500.