Huge gasps for breath were taken in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports garage when Kyle Larson spun out in the Darlington Raceway on Sunday. The race was just four laps in, and any hopes of winning were already gone. But crews at such a high level of the sport seldom have the luxury to lay down accepting defeat.
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Under the guidance of Cliff Daniels, the No. 5 crew began working on Larson’s damaged Chevrolet with the resolve to get it back on track. They eventually did. But the car was 160 laps down when it got back into the mix. Larson finished the race in 37th place, one step ahead of last-place finisher J.J. Yeley. So, were all the efforts in vain? Absolutely not.
Denny Hamlin explained why on Actions Detrimental. He said, “For multiple reasons. One is that they probably wanted to work on, ‘Well, we need to analyze our car. We got to come back here for the Southern 500, and we didn’t get enough laps to even realize if is our car good or not!'”
The veteran racer contended that Larson’s men might have gained crucial knowledge and that returning to race had benefits beyond just points. The bottom line that can be drawn is that the No. 5 crew decided to make the Goodyear 400 a giant practice session after realizing that they couldn’t win it. Daniels acknowledged Hamlin’s thoughts.
Daniels will be ready for similar situations in the playoffs
The Cup Series field will return to the Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 later this year. Getting to run multiple laps on Sunday will have been a valuable experience for Larson and Co. when it does. Daniels admitted that the primary reason for his crew beginning repairs was the desire to finish the race no matter the result.
However, none can deny that learning pit cycles and practicing pit stop reps was in vain. The chief admitted the same and pointed out that they can be efficient by at least 20 more laps if a similar situation arises in the future. “There is still plenty of chance to learn any time you get a chance to be back on the racetrack,” he said.
Away from all this, Hamlin had special reason to be happy that the repairs were done and Larson was put back on the track. It was by courtesy of the Hendrick driver’s second spin with four laps remaining that he ended up in Victory Lane.
