Larson, No. 5 team finish 20th at Pocono following late-race battle for the lead
TRACK: Pocono Raceway
LENGTH: 2.5-mile triangle
DATE: July 23, 2023
STARTED: 3rd
FINISHED: 20th
STANDINGS: 7th (-110 points)
Kyle Larson started Sunday’s 400-mile race at Pocono Raceway from the third position following Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.
Five laps into the race, the yellow flag waved over the track, scoring him in fifth. Since the race had just begun, the No. 5 entry elected to stay out until the green flag came back out with 20 laps to go in the first stage. A three-wide move by Larson allowed him to maneuver to second on lap 11, before quickly gaining momentum on the leader to take the lead. On a different pit strategy from the field, Larson pitted with four laps remaining in the stage for four tires and fuel, where he rejoined the field from 24th as majority of the cars remained on track. Larson finished stage one from 24th.
Based on the No. 5 team’s pit strategy, Larson started stage two in second as the cars in front of him pitted during the stage break. The yellow flag came back out on lap 36 of the restart, where crew chief Cliff Daniels radioed for Larson to keep saving fuel in hopes to remain on the same pit strategy. Once the green flag came back out on lap 42, the No. 5 entry battled from the second position, but unfortunately was involved in an on-track incident on lap 46. Larson brought the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet to pit road so that the team could assess the damage and put on four new tires. Larson rejoined the field before coming down pit road again for further repairs and to top his car off with fuel. However, at the time, pit road was closed, forcing him to restart from the tail end of the field.
Following the restart, the Elk Grove, California, native wasted no time, quickly maximizing his position to 25th by lap 55. Daniels reported that the spin was a strategy move that ultimately put the team in a good position to gain positions as the others had “short-pitted.” Green-flag pit stops soon began, allowing Larson to make his way to 19th by lap 63. With the ever-changing skies at the 2.5-mile triangle, the cloud cover changed the handling of the race car for Larson. That didn’t stop him though when on lap 82, Larson cycled to the lead as he was the last remaining car on the previous pit cycle. When the caution came out on lap 92, Larson was told to save fuel “super hard,” since pit road would remain closed until the end of the stage. Larson secured the green and white-checkered flag in stage two from the first position on lap 95.
Once pit road opened after the stage break, Larson brought the HendrickCars.com Chevy to pit road and was serviced with four tires and two cans of fuel to maintain their pit strategy. Since those behind him did not pit, nor utilized the strategy to take more fuel, Larson restarted from 20th on lap 100 for the final stage.
On lap 106, the yellow flag waved once again as Larson luckily maneuvered passed an on-track incident that occurred directly in front of the No. 5 entry. Fighting to get back to the front of the field, the 30-year-old marched into 11th, two laps after the restart on lap 115. As the final green-flag pit cycle was underway, Larson came down pit road on lap 119 for right-side tires and fuel. Larson was told that once the cycle was complete, he would regain the lead position. With 23 laps to go in the final stage, Larson was recorded in the sixth position before the caution came out on lap 143 where he was told to save fuel. As those in front decided to pit under the caution, the No. 5 entry elected to stay out, restarting from first with 13 laps to go. Once again, the caution came out on lap 150, where once again Larson would stay out, restarting from first with 10 laps to go. Just before the final caution of the race came out on lap 154, Larson moved to fourth after being squeezed into the wall during a tough battle for the lead. Larson reported that it felt like something was bent but the team decided to keep him on-track since there was no sign of a flat tire. Able to hold on until the finish, Larson took the checkered flag in the 20th position.
NEXT RACE:
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team will head to Richmond, Virginia to race at our next Home track on Sunday, April 30. The 400-mile race at Richmond Raceway goes green at 3 p.m. ET on USA.
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