Kyle Larson, who started seventh in Sunday’s 500-mile race at Darlington Raceway, dropped to ninth early on in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs opener after reporting he had “no grip.” The first caution of the race waved on lap five due to rain in the area. Once the race restarted, Larson maneuvered up to sixth before reporting mechanical issues on lap 77. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion lost three laps after bringing the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road for the team to diagnose and address the issue. When the first stage ended at lap 115, the Elk Grove, California, native was scored 35th, three laps down to the leaders.
At the stage break, the No. 5 team made adjustments during the four-tire stop. When a caution waved lap 180, Larson stayed out while the leaders pitted to move to only two laps down. The 30-year-old driver worked his way up to 22nd before another caution waved at lap 219. Again, Larson stayed out while the leaders pitted to move to only one lap down. When the stage ended at lap 230, Larson was scored 22nd. More importantly, he was the first driver one lap down – earning the “free pass” back onto the lead lap.
After restarting at the tail of the field, Larson worked his way up into the top 15 before pitting for new tires at lap 268 of the 367-lap race. But a caution waved during the green-flag pit sequence, trapping him one lap down. Once the leaders pitted under caution, Larson was back on the lead lap but forced to restart at the tail of the field. When the night’s final caution waved at lap 341, Larson and the field stopped for new tires for the final dash to the checkered flag. But he made an additional stop to ensure all the wheels on his No. 5 HendrickCars.com entry were tight, which meant Larson restarted behind all lead lap drivers in 18th. The reigning Cup Series champion was able to battle back to 12th before the checkered flag waved at lap 367.
QUOTING KYLE LARSON:
“We got back to the lead lap by the third stage. I was hoping for a better result, but we restarted like 30th every time. We were just trapped in dirty air and my balance wasn't great. Finally, there at the end, we were going to have some decent track position, but I wasn't sure if we had a lug nut tight and we decided to pit to be safe rather than giving up 20 spots for more. So, pretty bummed about it, but also happy at the same time because I thought we were going to have another DNF (due to the mechanical issue at lap 77).”
NEXT RACE:
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet head to the Midwest for the second playoffs race of the season. The 400-mile race at Kansas Speedway takes place Sunday, Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on USA.
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