'Fully onboard': Kyle Larson backs HMS' questionable pitstop call at Darlington

Kyle Larson backed Hendrick Motorsports' decision to keep him on the track during the final pit stops in the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. The No. 5 team's crew chief, Cliff Daniels, chose track position over fresh tires with 24 laps remaining. The call put him in the lead briefly, before Christopher Bell passed him with 11 laps to go and went on to win the Chase opener. Ad Daniels faced a major decision when pit road opened on Lap 340. Larson had just pitted earlier, on Lap 317, and was running inside the top 5 before the late-race rain interruption. The team did not feel another stop was necessary when the race returned to green. When the field resumed, Daniels kept Larson on the track. Submit Thanks for the submission! The idea was that Larson would restart at the front while most of the leaders would have to work their way through the field on fresh tires. After the race, Larson said he was fully behind the decision (0:25 onwards): Ad Trending 'I was fully on board that call. I was surprised that those guys pitted in front of me. I thought the 19 (Chase Briscoe) was a really strong car and could maintain lead from not pitting. So when they all pitted in front of me and we got to stay out, I was super happy. Ad 'I thought for as many cars in the lead lap, I thought more would stay out though. And at least have those guys restarting from the fourth or fifth row. But, when they start on the third row and Bell got to second so fast, I knew it was going to be hard. I just wasn't able to manage that beginning of the run the way I wanted to. I was hopeful that, more to stay out, I could get a gap and then run the lines I wanted to run to build my tires to the place I wanted to build them to.' Ad Ad Kyle Larson expected more lead-lap cars to stay out with him. Had that happened, he would have had more traffic between himself and the Toyotas on the restart. Instead, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick pitted and restarted from the third row onwards, as only three other Fords stayed out. That changed the situation quickly. Larson also admitted he could have done more with a little more time. Ad 'I think I was just a couple laps away, honestly, from hurting him some more behind me to be able to hold him off. But, proud of the call and happy with it and had fun,' Kyle Larson added. Despite losing the lead late, Kyle Larson was satisfied with the decision and the opportunity it gave him to fight for the win. He remains the seventh seed in the Cup Series Chase with 2,086 points, 49 points behind Denny Hamlin, who holds the top seed. He was also the best-finishing Chevrolet at Darlington. Ad Kyle Larson remains the highest Chevrolet as Toyotas resumed control at Darlington Kyle Larson - NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500. Source: Getty Toyota drivers led 256 of the 367 laps in the Southern 500, with Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Chase Briscoe, and Christopher Bell accounting for much of that control. That made Kyle Larson's attempt to defend the lead on older tires even more difficult. Bell gradually closed the gap after the final pit cycle. Ad Larson got a strong restart and initially kept Bell behind him, but he kept gaining ground. With 15 laps left, Larson led Bell by 0.25 seconds. By Lap 357, Bell took the lead. As he pulled away, Larson lost positions to Gibbs, Reddick, and Ryan Blaney in the final six laps to finish fifth. Kyle Larson explained how he approached the final run with Bell: 'I just went straight into defense and actually held him off longer than I thought I could. And right before he passed me, I actually thought that we were getting close enough to where I could maybe hold him off the rest of the time. But, he did a good job of building some runs on me to get me moving around again. He did a great job. So, so did our team though. I was super happy with the result.' While Christopher Bell's Southern 500 win snapped a 33-race winless streak, for Kyle Larson, the result extended his winless run. His last victory came at Kansas Speedway in May 2025. × Feedback Why did you not like this content? Clickbait / Misleading Factually Incorrect Hateful or Abusive Baseless Opinion Too Many Ads Other Cancel Submit Was this article helpful? Thank You for feedback Get the latest NASCAR All-Star race news, Xfinity Series updates, breaking news, rumors, and today's top stories with the latest news on NASCAR.