Kyle Larson Breaks Talladega Drought with Fourth-Place Finish, Boosts Playoff Hopes

Kyle Larson emerged from his No. 5 Chevrolet with a beaming smile after completing 500 miles at Talladega Superspeedway, despite not taking the checkered flag. His fourth-place finish in Sunday’s YellaWood 500 ended a 14-race streak of finishes outside the top 10 at tracks where aerodynamic drafting tactics are crucial, providing a much-needed boost to his NASCAR Cup Series Playoff hopes.

Larson expressed his satisfaction with the result, saying, “I mean, eventually, right, it’s got to work out, and today was just that day. Especially with that wreck on the backstretch, that easily in the past would be us getting in the middle of that somehow. But we got through it, and yeah, we had a great car.”

The Hendrick Motorsports driver now heads to the Round of 12’s elimination race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course with a comfortable 52-point cushion above the elimination line, thanks to a 34-point gain at Talladega. Larson was one of four remaining playoff-eligible drivers who scored stage points at both breaks, navigating through treacherous four-wide racing in Stage 1 and dealing with a challenging entry to his pit stall.

Larson’s biggest break came during the massive crash that involved more than 20 cars, including eight playoff drivers. He joined fellow Chevrolet drivers in sailing through the top lane with minimal damage. In the overtime restart, Larson found himself in a prime position, second in the bottom lane behind Brad Keselowski, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and William Byron led the top lane.

“I wanted to give him a good shove down the backstretch, get him clear at some point through (turns) three and four, and then hopefully when the 47 (Stenhouse) had some momentum back, I was hoping that he would move up and they’d either chase each other way up, and I could get a run to the lead and to the start/finish line,” Larson explained. “But Brad’s really smart, and yeah, he felt like his best opportunity was probably to stay committed to the bottom lane. It was probably the right decision, because he only … I mean, he didn’t lose by much. So I think he would have had an easier opportunity of losing had he moved up to try and block.”

No. 5 crew chief Cliff Daniels was satisfied with the team’s execution and the dose of good fortune that helped them avoid the late-race melee. “I think the most realistic take that I can have is that was a very typical day for how it goes for us,” Daniels told NASCAR.com. “You know, we certainly probably have the worst finishing position of anyone in the field when it comes to speedway races, but I would imagine we’re among the best of stage points scored. Typically, we execute well in the stages and we get stage points, so doing that again today was a lot of what we’ve worked really hard to try to put ourselves in position to do.”

Larson, who received congratulations from Hendrick vice chairman and six-time Talladega winner Jeff Gordon after the race, savored the modest resume-builder at a track that has been challenging for him. “I mean, it’s only my second top five in like 10 and a half or 11 years of Cup racing, so I’m very happy with it,” Larson said after his 20th Talladega start. “And yeah, like I keep saying, I know we’re capable of doing it. You’ve just got to find some luck along the way, and today we did find that luck, so it’s good.”