Larson victory, Nemechek wreck ends Darlington battle
DARLINGTON, S.C. — A head-to-head battle Saturday at Darlington ended with Kyle Larson winning and John Hunter Nemechek wrecking.
At the white flag, Nemechek led. However, Nemechek lost grip on the inside lane in turn one while Larson powered up on the outside lane. Larson crossed over on the backstretch and nearly cleared Nemechek in turn three.
Then, Nemechek bumped Larson, putting them side-by-side exiting turn four. Exiting the turn, Larson drove too hard, hit the wall and bumped Nemechek toward the inside wall, while he cruised to victory.
Nemechek finished fifth, wrecking across the line.
TOP 10 FINISHERS: Larson, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Nemechek, Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer, Kaz Grala, Corey Heim
STAGE 1 TOP 10: Larson, Nemechek, Hill, Custer, Mayer, Ryan Truex, Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Brett Moffitt
STAGE 2 TOP 10: Nemechek, Larson, Allgaier, Mayer, Custer, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Berry, Parker Kligerman, Hemric
The race was a slugfest in the first 75 laps.
On lap five, Sammy Smith slid in turn one and prompted a caution. Then, he did it again on lap 11 but it didn’t prompt a caution.
Smith wasn’t the only driver having issues at that time, as Riley Herbst smacked the wall in turn three while racing Daniel Hemric.
Herbst eventually went to the garage and finished last after completing 29 laps.
Then, on lap 40, Jeb Burton spun while Blaine Perkins blew a tire for the second time. Perkins’ race ended on lap 35.
After stage one ended, three cautions fell quickly in succession.
On lap 55, Parker Retzlaff spun and hit the wall after sliding into Josh Berry exiting turn four. On lap 62, Parker Kligerman had issues and slowed in front of Anthony Alfredo who sustained damage. Sage Karam also wrecked and bent the A-frame.
The highlight – or lowlight for many – was on lap 68 when Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill set off a multi-car wreck after spinning in front of the field.
Creed got the worst of it as top-10 contenders Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex got into him. The Richard Childress Racing driver continued with damage but Jones, Smith and Truex all failed to finish.
The wreck also collected John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Ellis, Jeremy Clements and Carson Hocevar.
Ellis wrecked in turn four on lap 81 and brought out another caution.
Nemechek and Hocevar finished in the top 10 while Clements, Hemric and Moffitt finished 14th, 16th and 20th, respectively.
The final three cautions fell on lap 92 for the end of stage two, lap 126 for debris off of Parker Retzlaff’s car and lap 137 for Kyle Sieg spinning exiting turn two.
After a hard-fought race at Darlington Raceway, the NASCAR Xfinity Series has two weeks off until its next race – May 27 at 1 p.m. ET (TV: FS1; Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
John Hunter Nemechek leads the overall points by one point over Austin Hill.
The playoff outlook is as follows:
9. Sheldon Creed +56
10. Riley Herbst +39
11. Sam Mayer +35
12. Daniel Hemric +33
13. Parker Kligerman -33
14. Brandon Jones -43
15. Ryan Sieg -63
16. Brett Moffitt -73
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com