What happened at the end of the NASCAR Cup race at Talladega? On the surface, Kyle Larson appeared to be in a perfect position to earn his first-ever drafting track win. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was leading the inside line and had a teammate pushing him as the field raced down the backstretch.
Suddenly, the No. 5 pulled down to the apron and Larson dropped out of view, crawling across the line with a 26th-place finish. Even a top five would have sent him into Martinsville with a comfortable cushion points-wise, but now, he holds the final transfer spot. Unless he can climb above Christopher Bell, who is just one point ahead of him, Larson could easily be eliminated by any of the four highly successful drivers below him winning at Martinsville.
Close on fuel
Fuel was close for several drivers as the Talladega Cup race got pushed into overtime, which prompted some to pit during the final caution, but Larson stayed out. He had been battling up front for most of the final run, and this final caution pushed the race five laps beyond its scheduled distance. In the end, he didn’t make it.
“Obviously, we knew it was close because we got the warning on whatever pump we were on under caution,” Larson explained in a post-race media scrum Motorsport.com was present for. “It sounded like we would be okay once I went to the other pump. Even when I was under yellow, having to flip the switch. He had a lot of confidence when he told me, so it gave me confidence. I was just hammer down, and there wasn’t really anything I could do.
“Then I got another warning on the final pump we had, and I was just hoping we would make it to the finish, but it started sputtering.”
Motorsport.com also caught up with Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels, who assured Larson that they would make it before the final restart.
“That was basically a quarter gallon down from where we ran out on the backstraightaway to make it back around. In the game of small margins, it was just a small margin that made the difference.”
Larson was also asked about his points situation, saying: “It’s great to be that (+36 points) if nobody below wins. You gotta assume one of them guys is gonna win. They’re all really good there. Every single one of them has a win there, I believe. It’ll be a fight — a point battle between me and Christopher [Bell]. You just don’t want to be the fourth spot guy, but we’ll see. Hopefully, we can go execute again like we have been and be up front.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
