In NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, Kyle Larson finally solved Darlington. What’s his secret?
Kyle Larson has finally won at Darlington.
The driver of the No. 5 car outpaced Tyler Reddick and the rest of the field in Sunday evening’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. With his third victory of the season — his first-ever at the “Track Too Tough to Tame” — the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion clinched a spot in the round of 12.
“This has been one of my favorite tracks my whole career,” Larson said post-race on the USA Network. “Been really, really fast here my whole career, but usually hitting the wall. … Adding this trophy to the collections is gonna be amazing.”
Reddick came in second, with Chris Buescher, William Byron and Ross Chastain rounding out the top five.
Larson, whose previous wins came at Richmond on April 2 and Martinsville on April 16, now holds the top spot in the playoff standings, but his regular season left a bit to be desired. He finished 35th at the Bristol dirt race following his victory at Richmond Raceway, and then came in 33rd at Talladega a week after conquering Martinsville.
“It’s hilarious, if you plot the five-car finish from all the races this year, it’s a perfect heartbeat,” said Cliff Daniels, Larson’s crew chief with Hendrick Motorsports. “We had zero momentum all throughout the year. At any point, we’d win, then finish 30th.
“From a team-building perspective, we had to really focus in on ourselves and learning the lessons in the moment that we needed to learn from some adversity that we created.”
Just over 24 hours after winning Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, Denny Hamlin collected the first two stage victories Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver dominated nearly the entire race. But on Lap 274, Hamlin needed to pit after his wheel came loose. The No. 11 car plummeted to 30th and ultimately finished 25th.
Larson was steady throughout the race and grabbed his first lead — from which he never looked back — on Lap 313.
“Honestly, drove through the field way better than I thought I would,” Larson said. “They did a really good job with the pit sequences to cycle us in front of people. From then on, you try and manage a race. Denny was really good, too, he was gonna be tough to beat without his mishap.”
Reddick gave Larson a run for his money over those final 55 laps, racing behind the No. 5 Chevy, but fell 0.447 seconds short.
“We did what we needed to do here tonight; Really wanted to be 2-for-2 in South Carolina with UNC colors,” Reddick, wearing his light blue and white racing suit, told reporters on Pit Road.
“It’s just Darlington, man, it’s what happens. The pressure’s on with the playoffs. You want to go out here and have an OK day, as soon as it goes the wrong way, it doesn’t take much.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
