Top-15 effort for Larson, HendrickCars.com team at Talladega
TRACK: Talladega Superspeedway
LENGTH: 2.66-mile oval
DATE: Oct. 1, 2023
STARTED: 4th
FINISHED: 15th
STANDINGS: 7th
In front of thousands of fans and teammates from three nearby dealerships, Kyle Larson set sailed for 500 miles from his fourth-place starting position in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Larson proved his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was fast by maneuvering to the runner-up position after the first eight laps with help from Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. He then raced mostly amongst the top-10. Halfway through the first stage, Larson was scored in the eighth position racing just half a second behind the leader. On lap 41, crew chief Cliff Daniels called Larson down pit road for a scheduled green-flag four tires and fuel pit stop. Shortly after the completion of the pit cycle and with 10 laps remaining in the stage, Larson was racing in the eighth position amongst a group of six Chevys in the top 10 including Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Byron. On the final circuit of the 60-lap stage, a caution occurred ending it and Larson was scored with a third-place finish earning valuable stage points.
During the stage break, the 31-year-old driver visited his pit crew for fuel and four tires with a slight air pressure adjustment. He restarted fourth for the start of the second stage. Just 15 laps into stage two, Larson was in good company, racing amongst the top five positions with teammates Alex Bowman and Elliott. The bottom lane took off and Larson found it difficult to find speed from the top and he slowly slipped back in track position. The HendrickCars.com driver was racing amongst the top 20 before he made a trip down pit road under green for fuel only with 13 laps to go in the stage. At the end of stage two, Larson earned a seventh-place stage finish.
Before the start of stage three, Daniels called Larson down pit road to the attention of his crew for four tires and fuel before the final segment of the race. Larson restarted taking the inside of the second row for the green flag. Just a few laps later, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion took the lead on lap 133. With tight competition up front, he slipped back in the pack slightly and raced amongst the top-10 positions until a caution occurred with 27 laps to go. NASCAR transitioned the yellow flag to a red flag to allow for track crews to inspect and fix the safer barrier. Once the red flag was lifted and pit road opened under the yellow, Daniels called Larson to visit pit road for fuel only and the No. 5 driver gained a spot on pit road. Larson restarted sixth for the green flag with 20 laps to go. Three laps later, Larson scored in seventh place when another caution occurred with 17 laps to go. He stayed out when pit road opened and restarted from the inside lane with 13 laps to go. On the final lap, Larson was involved in an on-track incident at the finish line that cost him eight positions, scoring a 16th place finish. Following post-race inspections, the runner-up competitor was disqualified which moved Larson to a 15th-place finish.
NEXT RACE:
Larson and the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team will race in Charlotte, North Carolina – home to HendrickCars.com’s 25 dealerships. The final race in the Round of 12 takes place Sunday, Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s road course and will be televised live on NBC.
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