Kyle Larson won the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, and within minutes his victory was called into question over whether his left-side tires dipped below the yellow line on the final lap.
Larson, the defending series champion, beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron to the finish line by 0.041 seconds, according to Motorsport.com, after charging from 11th place in an overtime finish. NASCAR assessed no penalty, and the result stands.
“From NASCAR on the Larson photo showing him on the yellow line (not below, in their view): If any part of the tire is still on the line, it’s not a penalty,” wrote reporter Jeff Gluck. “They’re saying both tires have to be fully below the yellow line. (I’m just telling you what they said.)”
By NASCAR rule, a driver who goes below the double yellow line at Talladega or Daytona to improve position gets a black flag, a point restated in the drivers’ meeting video. A driver forced below the line is treated differently. So the question at the heart of the dispute, did Larson get pushed, or did he go on his own? Or were his tires below the line at all?
NASCAR’s Ruling on Kyle Larson’s Tires
NASCAR officials studied their camera angle from the inside of the track and determined Larson’s tires stayed on the double yellow line, according to Fox Sports reporter Bob Pockrass. No penalty followed.
Critics weren’t buying it. Some fans on social media insisted the tires touched the orange line, which they described as sitting below the yellow, and that nothing forced Larson down there. “DQ him. Tires under the yellow line,” read one post. Others countered that tires on the line aren’t the same as tires below it.
Commentators on the official final-laps video, seen above, noted that NASCAR was scrutinizing the line before confirming the win. They also suggested the car directly behind Larson, likely Ross Chastain’s, may have run lower, and that Austin Hill had possibly gone below the line earlier, a move that helped shuffle Larson out of the lead.
No drivers have lodged a protest. No official appeal has surfaced either. Larson had entered the day winless in 58 prior starts at Talladega, Daytona and Atlanta, the longest superspeedway drought among active drivers.
“Cliff Daniels didn’t know about the yellow line issue until victory lane,” reporter Kelly Crandall wrote. “Kyle Larson told him that he started cheering and took his hands off the wheel because he was fist pumping already with the run he had. ‘I was like, “Bro, are you serious right now?”‘”
Kyle Larson’s Final-Lap Charge
Larson took the white flag in front, then lost 10 spots when Hill bumped him out of the lead several times, according to the Associated Press via Fox Sports. Hill faded soon after, reportedly short on fuel.
Larson described the contact in the first two turns afterward.
“Austin Hill was doing an amazing job pushing me, and he was just on me really tight in (turns) one and two,” he said, as quoted by SpeedwayMedia.com. “I just didn’t feel confident to turn my hands, and it just kind of wandered me up the track.”
Then came the bottom lane. Chastain, who finished fourth, credited his spotter for the push. “On the last lap, Brandon McReynolds (spotter) just called to push the No. 5,” Chastain said, as quoted by SpeedwayMedia.com.
Byron, who spent much of the day pushing Larson to the front, took the loss in stride. “Second sucks, but it’s good that Kyle won,” he said, as quoted by SpeedwayMedia.com.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who led late and took third, never saw it coming.
“Just one wrong move there at the end, trying to block the No. 24, we gave the race to the No. 5,” he said, as quoted by SpeedwayMedia.com.
A 15-car crash on Lap 184 had forced the overtime in the first place. The victory, his third in the past seven races, lifted Larson to a 73-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the Chase standings with two races left, according to the Associated Press. Martinsville Speedway is next, on Sunday, Nov. 1.
Kyle Larson’s Talladega NASCAR Win Questioned After Tire Issue