Kyle Larson Scores Sizzling Cook Out Southern 500 Victory

At last, Kyle Larson is a Cook Out Southern 500 winner at Darlington. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

DARLINGTON, S.C. – If the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is like another season, Kyle Larson must feel as jubilant as a Daytona 500 champion.

Larson has pursued a Cook Out Southern 500 victory since 2014, a race he has held in high regard. Over the years, he has shown his natural talents at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway, placing eighth in 2014, 10th in 2015, third in 2017, 14th in 2017, third in 2018, and runner-up in 2019 and 2021.

Particularly, the 31-year-old Elk Grove, California racer was so close to a Darlington victory in 2021. Drawing a bead on Denny Hamlin in the final laps, Larson came up 0.212 seconds from winning one of stock car’s most prestigious races.

Last year, Larson was nowhere in contention for the win. Enduring engine issues that put him multiple laps down, the Hendrick Motorsports racer persevered to finish 12th.

Last Sunday evening, Larson started 18th in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Despite the less than ideal qualifying result, it became evident that Larson had a competitive, fast car.

Larson made like Harry Gant at Darlington. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Marching through the field in the early going, Larson placed third, the highest finishing Chevrolet racer. Even as the track conditions changed from sunset to dusk, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion kept after it, finishing runner-up and netting 17 valuable stage points.

While Larson and his No. 5 team turned up the wick, Denny Hamlin, who started second, swept Stages 1 and 2. The Chesterfield, Virginia native appeared set to win his fourth Cook Out Southern 500.

Instead, Hamlin saw victory slip away when he felt like his left rear wheel was loose. Pitting on Lap 273, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver dropped to a 25th place finish.

With Hamlin out of contention, Kevin Harvick suddenly emerged as a late race contender along with Tyler Reddick. A Lap 311 caution for Ryan Newman’s spin in Turn 4 changed the complexity of the race.

Harvick, who ducked into pit road for his last pit stop, was committed for a four tire and refueling. Unfortunately in his case, this occurred as pit road closed, penalizing him to restart toward the rear of the field.

Meanwhile, Larson’s No. 5 pit crew won the race off pit road for the final stop of the evening, taking the lead from Reddick’s No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry team. This proved to be the money stop for the Californian as he had precious track position.

Still, Larson had concerns with his car particularly after a wall brush apparently left his car on neutral. Repairs were made to the best abilities of the No. 5 team although the car lost some of its optimum handling and pace.

Regardless, Larson responded to the call on two restarts, especially in the final 41 lap run. Opting for the outside lane, Larson brushed the wall on the final restart, allowing Reddick to close the gap into a matter of car lengths.

After winning the race off pit road, Kyle Larson held off the determined Tyler Reddick and cagey Chris Buescher. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Keeping cool under the pressure and duress of a Darlington triumph, Larson stayed the course. Running up against the wall, Larson managed to stabilize his lead over Reddick.

Lap after lap, Larson clicked off competitive laps as he drew closer to his third win of 2023. In a race that spanned four hours, eight minutes and 47 seconds, Larson drove to a 0.447 second win over Reddick.

Clinching a Round of 12 spot, Larson earned the 500th victory for a Hendrick powered car. Likewise, another milestone is on Larson’s mindset after conquering Darlington.

“I think all four of us would want to be the one to do it, but really, I think 300 is just a super big number,” Larson said. “For me, I’m going to be just as happy to see William, Chase or Alex win No. 300 for Rick as I would be for myself to win.

“I think when you — which Rick has already stamped himself in this support as the greatest car owner of all time, to reach another milestone like 300, that takes a whole time throughout decades and decades. No. 300 as a whole means more than me winning it or any individual person.”

For a team that has been around since 1984, Larson would love nothing more than Hendrick Motorsports achieving a coveted achievement.

“I hope one of us four can do it next week, and I guess that means Rick will be at the track every week now until we win,” he said. “We’ll look forward to having him there.”

As for the driver of the No. 5 car, Larson emphasized minimizing unforced errors. In this case, he accomplished this despite brushing the wall, a fate that most drivers endure regardless.

Earning a Round of 12 spot and 22nd career Cup win, Larson does not plan to let off the gas pedal at Kansas, Bristol and any other postseason venue.

Kyle Larson drove to Hendrick Motorsports’ 299th Cup victory. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“I don’t really feel any differently as far as that goes, after winning,” he said. “In 2021, we were winning. We won a race in each round, maybe not the first race of every round, but still, when you put together good races you know the points are going to take care of themselves and you’re going to advance.

“It doesn’t take any pressure off, it doesn’t take any focus away. To me anyway. It doesn’t give me a different goal. I still just want to go and run a good race from start to finish for nine more weeks. My mindset doesn’t change at all. Sure, it’s great to be locked in if you do have a mishap, but I don’t plan on having a mishap.”

Aside from Larson, Reddick had a virtually flawless evening. Placing second and fourth in Stages 1 and 2, Reddick mulled over what he needed to best his Golden State counterpart.

“Man, I don’t know maybe just a little bit longer run,” Reddick said. “It had just gotten short enough to where you didn’t save a whole lot I don’t think. Kyle (Larson) and I were pretty close the majority of the day, honestly. He just got ahead of us there unfortunately on pit road, but all in all this is the day that we needed to have.

“I’m really just thankful for the hard work from the pit crew, the team, everyone at the shop. Days like this with a car like this we haven’t been able to get a second place finish out of it so I’m really glad we’re able to do that. We’re sitting pretty good. It was a pretty good points day on top of that as well.”

Next to Larson and Reddick, Chris Buescher had a spectacular showing at Darlington, earning a podium. Moving up to fourth in the championship standings, the RFK Racing driver continued his strong stretch of performances since Richmond in late July.

“Him and Reddick both are usually the first ones up there, so I had to just try to follow suit and got up there,” Buescher said. “We made a lot of really good time up there, but I felt like we were in a good spot. Even though we made speed up there, you really needed to go somewhere else to be able to pass and there at the end there just wasn’t any other options.”

The options were plentiful for Larson despite brushing the wall. Managing a car that was stuck on neutral and scarred from the SAFER barrier, Larson was a lot like Captain Kirk outwitting Khan Noonien Singh in the Mutura Nebula.

Like a video gamer beating the final boss, Kyle Larson finally tamed “The Track Too Tough to Tame.” (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Celebrating with his trademark, long frontstretch burnout, Larson recalled his encounters with Darlington’s walls and how he pushed through those moments.

“The good thing with this car is that you can graze it some,” Larson said. “Obviously when you slap the wall, that’s when things bend. I probably grazed the wall at least 20 times tonight or more, all in 3 and 4. I got it a little bit into 1 once. But really there was only two times where I thought that, ooh, maybe it did some damage there. The first time was there late in the — middle of the third stage.

“I just didn’t get a clean enough downshift, and it kind of hung into neutral between fourth and fifth and stayed there for quite a while, and then it finally dropped into fifth as I was closest there to the corner and went to fourth and then I was just lower off of the wall, and when you’re lower — I watch broadcasts all the time, and people are like, just give it some room, you don’t have to run right next to — well, you have a lot less grip when you don’t run right next to the wall.”

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Kyle Larson
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Chase Elliott
8. Christopher Bell
9. Chris Buescher
10. Aric Almirola

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Larson
3. Erik Jones
4. Tyler Reddick
5. William Byron
6. Kyle Busch
7. Ryan Blaney
8. Austin Dillon
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway Results

NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 Playoffs Standings