NASCAR
Kyle Larson Earns First Darlington Triumph, Onto Round of 12
DARLINGTON, S.C. – A potential sleeping giant has been awaken in the form of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team. Kyle Larson is finally victorious at Darlington Raceway in his 12th trek around the Track Too Tough to Tame. One week into the 2023 Playoffs, Larson is the only driver sleeping easy. Now with their eyes onto the Round of 12, Larson appears to be poised for another Phoenix run.
For nearly half of the Southern 500, it seemed likely that Larson would run second. Denny Hamlin was lights-out dominant, leading an astounding 177 laps after starting second. Hamlin picked up both Stage wins as well, before an error set the 11 back. Under a green flag pit stop, Hamlin thought his crew left a wheel loose. The 11 made another trip down pit road and remained a lap down for the rest of the night, finishing 25th.
Hamlin’s misfortunes seemingly put his employee in the catbird seat, with Tyler Reddick taking over. Reddick only lost the top spot after a caution for a spinning Ryan Newman, right after the No. 45 had lapped the 51. The following pit road sequence saw Larson edge Reddick back out onto the track.
The timing of this caution also set second-place Kevin Harvick back, with the 4 ducking onto a closed pit road. The Closer seemed to be in prime position to capitalize after stalking Reddick down, but instead finished a dismal 19th.
A wild sequence of events! @KevinHarvick starts to pit road. @TylerReddick slows. @RyanJNewman spins.
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 4, 2023
The No. 4 ends up on a closed pit road! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/2CNboU3haz
Larson was unbeaten on the restart, setting sail from Reddick and the pack. Three other Playoff contenders ran into trouble not long after though. After Kyle Busch set Todd Gilliland spinning, the 38 went into the path of Denny Hamlin. The swerving 11 then forced Michael McDowell into Christopher Bell. None of these drivers recovered for a top-20 finish.
Restarting with a 30-lap dash to the checkers, Larson remained undefeated in his quest for a maiden Darlington win. The 5 eventually took the checkers over Reddick by four tenths, taking home a third victory of 2023.
“18th to third in the first stage, I didn’t think that was possible,” Larson said. “Our racecar was really good when the sun was out. Just had to work on it. I messed up once and it got hung in neutral, and I slid and hit the wall, and I think bent the toe link a little bit, so it was kind of a struggle from there. Definitely had to fight it more than I was earlier, but we kept our heads in the game. That was really important. This race is all about keeping your head in it.”
“I’ve been pretty hard on myself here the last couple months, but having a leader like Cliff (Daniels, crew chief), he really is good for my mind.”
“Just proud of the team, proud of Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Andrews, Chad Knaus, everybody at Hendrick Engine shop. 500 wins, that’s incredible, so congratulations to each and every one of you at the shop for all your hard work. Valvoline, JINYA Ramen Bar, all of Hendrick Motorsports. What a great way to start the Playoffs and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Larson immediately set this win near the top of his numerous major victories. “It’s definitely in the top 5. This has been one of my favorite tracks my whole career and been really, really fast here my whole career, just usually get in the wall. Finally we have the Next Gen car that’s tough enough to allow me to hit the wall, so was able to make some mistakes and get a win.”
“Adding this trophy to the collection is going to be amazing, and just such a prestigious race. This is one of three or four crown jewels, and I feel like besides the 500 maybe the only one I haven’t won yet. We get to hopefully go back to the Brickyard next year on the oval and would love to win that one, too.”
“Just proud of this bunch again. Pit crew came in clutch there at the end to get us out in the lead. Had some things work out, staying out when that car was spinning out, too, so just kind of fell in our lap there, and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Behind Larson and Reddick, the Darlington top-10 were: Chris Buescher, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones. Hear from some of these drivers below.
The Round of 16 rolls onward from the Heartland at Kansas Speedway. The Hollywood Casino 400 will send another driver into the next round, with 15 guys gunning for that elusive ticket. The green flag will fly Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Kansas was within reach of Kyle Larson in the spring, can the 5 potentially go back-to-back?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
