Bob Pokras
Fox Motorsports Insider
After chasing the leader by 168 laps, Kyle Larson was involved in an accident that changed the outcome of the Cup race at Darlington on Sunday.
A truck driver who is much late in a repaired car? It has not been seen since 2017. That’s because the damaged vehicle policy (DVP) was enacted and the team only had a few minutes to repair the destroyed race car.
After destroying the fourth lap, Larson’s team spent nearly two hours in the garage.
By the time he got back on track, Larson didn’t get enough positions to score extra points (36th, 37th and 38th all got one point, with the best he could do was 37th). He may have scored the fastest lap points, but not in a damaged car.
So, what exactly was Larson doing?
Denny Hamlin thanked the pit crew, and Kyle Larson won 400 Goodyear
“Just stick your nose and secure it in place, and it gives you plenty of data points on how your car is driving. [learn]”Larson Crew Chief Cliff Daniels said after the race. “I really don’t know if you know or not.” [the first time the car requirements for] When the NASCAR mindset comes back, you create a minimum speed.
“Yes, I know there’s no point to get. [for spots]…but how we build our team, we certainly want to come here and take the checker flag. And the other things we were learning were pit cycles. A few of the things we were doing at different air pressure settings and at the height of the car. ”
Larson tried to get away from everyone’s path. When he saw Tyler Reddick fighting Ryan Branny for the lead, he slowed down and lowered, avoiding potential contact with Reddick. But Baba Wallace had enough of a good run that came from behind Larson, so he accidentally entered the back of Larson and spun him.
Without being careful, Branny will likely win the race. If attention is paid, the race was largely determined by subsequent pit stops, where Denny Hamlin came out first, with Branny in fourth.
Again, what was Larson doing?
Well, he was allowed to be there for changes to rules this year.
NASCAR has created a DVP for an earlier version of the Cup Car. One reason NASCAR officials limited their time working in wrecked cars was to ensure that teams do not do any important welding and patchwork. For years, crews have spoken about suffering from burns or filing fire lawsuits from hot liquids. The team spent money on bringing parts and pieces into the truck for repairs.
With the new rules, it was nothing and few people complained. Yes, being able to finish the race is nice, but most of the time the juice was not always worth squeezing.
Due to rules specifying which parts can be replaced with the next generation of cars, NASCAR thought there was only significant repairs in rare cases. That’s why the team was able to get in the car this year.
NASCAR still has options to retire the car from the event if you feel the car is damaged beyond what it doesn’t take into account the race condition. But adding time to your team to work in the car also means leading the car to a place where it can safely be returned. In these examples, there is less chance that the repaired parts will break down or get out of the car, and other caution is given.
Daniels thought this would be a good movement for his team, and for NASCAR, to understand what it needs to do to get the car back on track. The team had to replace certain tethers and secure them with the front bumper where they had repaired other items.
“The front clip was not injured, the suspension was not damaged, the steering was not damaged, and the radiator was not damaged,” Daniels said. “It was really an aluminum bumper bar. That’s a lot of work just to change one of them.
“The advantage of the way we handled the day, such as going back to the end and trying to complete all the wraps, was mostly a good dress rehearsal. If that happened in the fall… we could probably reduce our time in the garage up to 20 wraps.”
Not only did Daniels know the potential to score points on the fastest laps, but he was also looking to the playoff race at Darlington in September.
So, if they finally worked overtime, the team might have tried something with air pressure or tried to adjust to see if the two-lap shootout had an impact on lap times.
They as destiny has It was Reason for overtime.
“Unfortunately, that [wreck] We could have changed the range of races, but we still had work to do and we tried to maximize what is possible in our time,” Daniels said.
It’s hard to discuss what Daniels was thinking.
If a team has a car that can speed up on the track, the team should not be forced to pursue points. Points can make a difference in regular season rankings, which can also affect the number of playoff points a team acquires during the season.
And once you go through the process, the next time it’s always useful.
“It looked like it would be the perfect race” – William Byron was Goodyear 400
If there were no available points on the fastest lap, it can be argued that the car cannot realistically advance its position (technically, with unlimited overtime, no set distance, therefore it can be argued that the car needs to park). However, whether the policy should only apply to damaged cars will be vague whether it will not apply to other cars with mechanical issues.
But should the teams be told they can’t repair their car, with the fastest laps pointing and not being able to fix them? And beyond that, what does NASCAR do if a wrecked car scores the fastest lap points? Do I have to go through post-race techniques to ensure that repairs are not placed outside of legal readings?
The key to NASCAR is to make sure that a wrecked car doesn’t ruin the show, and that everyone has the opportunity to maximize their day.
Should NASCAR be put into the rule stating that if a car is on a certain number of laps (probably half of the race), it cannot return? Should I add a rule that the car must complete a certain amount of races when it sets up a high-speed lap to earn that bonus point?
These are all possible ways to justify leaving your car there. Other than satisfying the ego of teams who don’t want DNF (which didn’t finish) on that record. NASCAR may need to save a team from themselves and if they say the rules are being done for the day, they can feel that the team has done everything they can to stay in the race.
The rules at Darlington on Sunday weren’t doing Larson for that day.
“You’re coming back here for the playoff opener, you really don’t want to leave anything in your mind that’s a question about what you can do,” Daniels said. “The guys did a really good job digging and repairing the car to decent quality. We wanted to make the most of the situation.”
Daniels was right in his explanation. Larson had the right to be there.
If anything, don’t hate the players, hate the rules. It certainly smells bad for Branny. But as they say, “it’s a race.”
Bob Pockras covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for Fox Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500, in stints in ESPN, Sports News, NASCAR Sheen Magazine, and (Daytona Beach) News Journal. Follow him on Twitter @Bob Pokkuras.
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