Kyle Larson's crew chief justifies strategic decision at Darlington: 'Pretty logical'

Kyle Larson opened the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Chase with a fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway, but a late strategy call left the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team wondering what might have been. But crew chief Cliff Daniels defended the decision to keep Larson on older tires. Ad On Sunday, Larson started 25th after NASCAR set the lineup through its points-based metric following the cancellation of qualifying. He led a race-high 99 laps and was in contention for the win deep into the race but could not hold the lead in the closing laps after a restart. Submit Thanks for the submission! In a post-race interview with NASCAR journalist Kelly Crandall, Daniels called the team's decision to stay out a "pretty logical" move given the position the team faced late in the Cook Out Southern 500. Ad Trending "We had talked about that was probably just going to be a pretty logical move in our case to stay out and take the lead or if you pit from fourth and come out fourth or fifth, that's about all you're gonna have. So kind of a net wash, I would say but gave ourselves the opportunity to be up front." Ad "Kyle did a great job on the restart and holding on as long as he did. Yeah, just one of those things." Expand Tweet Ad Kyle Larson finished second in Stage 2 after climbing from 16th during the stage. But a caution with 33 laps remaining led to a red flag lasting over seven minutes and Daniels kept Larson on the track. Larson took the restart from the lead on four-lap-old tires, with Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece among the other drivers who stayed out. "It was probably a little bit easier to aero block back then" - Kyle Larson's crew chief on the new short-track package at Darlington Kyle Larson and Cliff Daniels at Daytona International Speedway. - Source: Imagn Cliff Daniels had another concern. Older NASCAR packages allowed drivers to use aero blocking more effectively. The No. 5 crew chief felt the current package made it easier for cars with fresh tires to pass. Still, staying out gave Larson the lead and left open the chance of another caution or rain interruption. Ad The new short-track package features a 3-inch rear spoiler and fewer stabilizing strakes on the rear diffuser, reducing the aerodynamic support available to the cars "Historically, there have been a lot of calls of guys with four laps on tires staying out and with the old downforce package, I think it was probably a little bit easier to aero block back then versus what it is now. So I was concerned that it was going to be a little too easy to get past with this package," Daniels said. Ad Kyle Larson made the most of the decision at the restart. He pulled away and held Christopher Bell, who had fresh tires, behind him for several laps. But the No. 20 Toyota reached second within two laps and passed Larson for the lead with 12 laps remaining. The 34-year-old finished fifth and gained six points on points leader Denny Hamlin, who finished 18th after a difficult race. × 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.