Kyle Larson hangs on in wild Darlington Xfinity finish

The last time Kyle Larson raced in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington Raceway, he was in a thrilling finish as last-lap contact with Sheldon Creed allowed Noah Gragson to sneak by for the win. Eight months later, his duel with John Hunter Nemechek also caused the two to tangle coming to the finish; this time, however, as Nemechek slid into the inside wall, Larson pulled away to score the win.

The two were the class of the field as they combined to lead 103 of 147 laps and split the first two stage wins. Nemechek, who comprised 57 of those led circuits, held first for much of the final segment including the final restart with seven laps to go.

Larson closed in on Nemechek on the last lap before getting side by side on the backstretch. Slight contact between the two entering turn three caused Larson to brush the wall. Exiting the final corner, Larson was sandwiched between Nemechek and the barrier, and a bump with the latter caused him to ricochet back into Nemechek which shot him into the inside retaining wall.

After re-firing his damaged car, Nemechek crossed the line in fifth.

“Just disappointed a little bit from the standpoint of how that ended up there,” said Nemechek. “Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of turn four. Fast car, top five to show for it when it probably should have been Victory Lane or second.”

For Larson, it is his fourteenth career Xfinity win and continues his streak of winning at least once in every season that he raced in the series save for his rookie season in 2013.

“We were picking off cars really fast and had some lane selections work out for me,” Larson commented. “We were just bouncing off each other a little bit. I don’t know what happened in three. It seemed like he tried to get behind me to shove me into the corner. It kind of hooked me right, and I hit the wall, and I was trying to stay away from him and get off of four.”

Among those who passed Nemechek after his crash was Austin Hill in fourth, rebounding after a bizarre crash in which he and Richard Childress Racing team-mate Creed spun at exactly the same time on lap 68. Creed was unable to make up the lost ground and finished twenty-fifth, continuing an Xfinity tenure plagued by misfortune.

Carson Hocevar finished sixth in Spire Motorsports‘ Xfinity début. Three spots behind him, Sam Hunt Racing enjoyed a strong day as both of their cars scored top tens with Kaz Grala in ninth and Corey Heim tenth.

Race results