Kyle Larson Does Not Regret the Costly Darlington Pit-Stop Gamble

The final stage of the NASCAR Cup Series race last Sunday at Darlington Raceway witness two drivers, going all out to secure their maiden win of the season. Hendrick Motorsports’ defending Cup champion Kyle Larson was fighting Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell for the race win.

The No:5 Chevy driver found himself on the lead, after deciding to take a gamble and not stop in a pit-window with 24 laps left in the race, while the rest of the leading pack stopped. Initially the move felt like a solid choice, but Bell who stop caught up to him within 12 laps and went on to win the race.

No. I don’t. Because we were going to restart behind the No. 20, the No. 19, it was going to be tough coming to my pit stall around the No. 54.

Kyle Larson said post-race.

The veteran was really surprised how just a few in the leading pack decided not to pit at the moment. If there were more cars alongside him in the lead pack that had old tires, the results might have been different, as Kyle Larson might have had more time to defend from the Toyota pack hunting him down.

I was actually surprised that they pitted in front of me, and I was then surprised that not more stayed out with me. I just thought there were so many cars on the lead lap, I thought there might be, I don’t know, two to four more that might stay out.

Kyle Larson added via motorsport.com.

Further talking about the point, Larson asserted that he stayed out thinking he would get more laps to defend his position only to see Christopher Bell producing a strong run to secure P2 and put him in the defensive mode that was bound to fail. The veteran at the end had to settle for P5 finish.

I thought that that could help me at least get some laps where I could manage my tires. But Bell got to second so fast, I was just straight into defense and not able to run the lines that I ultimately wanted to take care of my tires.

Kyle Larson asserted.

Kyle Larson explains the overall attitude of HMS over 2026 struggles

The 2026 season so far hasn’t been kind to HMS and the Chevy pack, as they have found it hard to match the pace the Toyota’s and Ryan Blaney with the Team Penske Ford. HMS is desperate to find ways to be in the race win conversation again. Amidst the chaos they are not pointing figure at each other and is working hard behind the scenes as they should.

I would say the good thing with Hendrick Motorsports is there’s no — at least in my time of being there — there’s no finger pointing. There’s nobody calling anybody out. It’s just, especially in these moments, it’s like ‘All right, we know we have an issue, let’s try and just figure it out.

Kyle Larson said.

The comments from the veteran racer are on point and shows how Rick Hnedrick’s team has the right attitude to get out of the mess they have found themselves in. It would be interesting to see how the reminder of the season is going to playout for the star driver.

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