Wow. Kyle Larson finally scored a win at Darlington Raceway, as he won Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race, but he did so in a wild finish.
John Hunter Nemechek, who was the dominant driver on the day, had the lead on Larson by about two tenths of a second heading into the final lap of the race. That lead turned out not to be safe enough, as Larson carved Nemechek’s lead down to nothing through turns 1 and 2. And on the exit of Turn 2, the two drivers made contact for the lead.
Larson, on the inside, sent Nemechek slightly into the outside wall, but the battle was still on as Nemechek still had some momentum and attempted to cross over Larson. Nemechek then attempted to return the favor on Larson in Turn 3, but Larson was able to successfully block the retaliatory move, and on the exit of Turn 4, the two drivers collided again as Larson bounced off the outside wall
This resulted in Nemechek spinning and colliding with the inside wall.
Here’s the finish of Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series win:
Heres the finish where Larson and JHN made a lot of contact. What are your thoughts, folks? #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/6SlZgL9Xnq
— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) May 13, 2023
And here is another video angle of the incident:
Left it all out there.
🎥: @jamesdudebrah pic.twitter.com/EpkURxKITS
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) May 13, 2023
And one last angle of the last-lap battle:
Darlington delivers … again. pic.twitter.com/SjlPKhTfdq
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) May 13, 2023
Larson lost the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in somewhat similar fashion last weekend after he was turned by Denny Hamlin on the final lap of that race.
