Larson Wins Xfinity Darlington in Near Replay of 2003 Spring Finish
Kyle Larson takes the checkers as John Hunter Nemechek slides towards the line
(DARLINGTON, SC – MAY 13, 2023 – RIS) Kyle Larson bounced off the wall and then John Hunter Nemechek, sending Nemechek into a spin out of second place, to win the Shriners Children’s 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race. The win is Larson’s first victory at “the track too tough to tame” and his 14th career series win. Nemechek spun across the start/finish line in fifth place, unlike the 2003 Cup race at Darlington, when Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch banged fenders down the straight and under the checkered flag in a finish separated by two thousandths of a second.
“Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of turn four,” said Nemechek after the race, adding that he should have had a “top-five to show for it when it probably should have been victory lane or second.”
Justin Allgaier avoided the spinning Toyota to take second in the BRANDT Heritage Chevy, followed by Cole Custer and Austin Hill before Nemechek slid under the flag.
In the point standings, Nemechek is a single point ahead of Austin Hill.
Unofficial Results: Shriners Children?s 200, May 13, 2023 - Darlington Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Kyle Larson(i), No. 10 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 147, 1, 2, 4, 46, , 0, Running
2) 17, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Heritage Chevrolet, 147, , 3, 2, 2, , 43, Running
3) 5, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 147, 4, 5, , , , 47, Running
4) 10, Austin Hill, No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet, 147, 3, 6, 2, 2, , 46, Running
5) 1, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota, 147, 2, 1, 5, 57, 1, 51, Running
6) 25, Carson Hocevar(i), No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet, 147, , , 1, 3, , 0, Running
7) 13, Josh Berry, No. 8 Tire Pros Love The Drive Chevrolet, 147, , 8, , , , 33, Running
8) 4, Sam Mayer, No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet, 147, 5, 4, 2, 35, , 42, Running
9) 26, Kaz Grala, No. 26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota, 147, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 24, Corey Heim(i), No. 24 GearWrench Toyota, 147, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 9, Sammy Smith #, No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota, 147, , 10, , , , 27, Running
12) 15, Jeb Burton, No. 27 Capital City Towing Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 23, Parker Kligerman, No. 48 Big Machine Racing Spiked Chevrolet, 147, , 9, , , , 26, Running
14) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 First Pacific Funding Chevrolet, 147, , , 1, 1, , 23, Running
15) 20, Anthony Alfredo, No. 78 Dude Wipes Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 12, Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet, 147, 9, , , , , 23, Running
17) 27, Josh Williams, No. 92 Call 811/Alloy Employer Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 21, Ross Chastain(i), No. 91 Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 0, Running
19) 30, Ty Dillon(i), No. 3 Ferris Commercial Mowers Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 0, Running
20) 14, Brett Moffitt, No. 25 AM Technical Solutions Ford, 147, 10, , , , , 18, Running
21) 31, Patrick Emerling, No. 35 Chevrolet, 147, , , 1, 1, , 16, Running
22) 28, Stefan Parsons, No. 07 Ollie's Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 35, Brennan Poole, No. 6 511Auction.com Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 8, Parker Retzlaff #, No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 7, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet, 147, 7, , , , , 16, Running
26) 33, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 45 BZ Mart/ForeverLawn Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 16, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMRoofing.com Ford, 146, , 7, , , , 14, Running
28) 34, Matt Mills(i), No. 53 J.F. Electric Ford, 146, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 36, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 Panini Ford, 146, , , 1, 1, , 8, Running
30) 29, Kyle Sieg, No. 28 Cedar Ridge Landscaping Ford, 146, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 22, Sage Karam, No. 44 CRC Chevrolet, 144, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 37, Joe Graf Jr., No. 38 Bethel Motor Speedway Ford, 140, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 32, Ryan Ellis, No. 43 Keen Parts Chevrolet, 74, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 11, Brandon Jones, No. 9 Menards/Cheez-It Chevrolet, 68, 8, , , , , 6, Accident
35) 2, Ryan Truex, No. 19 Toyota Outfitters Toyota, 68, 6, , , , , 7, Accident
36) 6, Chandler Smith #, No. 16 Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet, 67, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 38, Blaine Perkins #, No. 02 PayDay Chevrolet, 35, , , , , , 1, Suspension
38) 18, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 29, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Race Length: 147 Laps, 200.802 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 11 Mins, 4 Secs.
Average Speed: 91.924 MPH
Margin of Victory: 1.337 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 10, 20, 21, 00, 1, 19, 2, 9, 11, 25
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 10, 7, 1, 00, 21, 39, 8, 48, 18
Comments: Kyle Larson has won the Shriners Children's 200 at Darlington Raceway, his 14th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 6 (Backup car), Nos. 26, 27, 38, 44, 02 (Unapproved adjustments)
Failed to Qualify: (3) No. 4 Garrett Smithley, No. 66 Chad Finchum, No. 74 Dawson Cram.
Cautions: 10 for 51 laps;
Laps: 5-7 (No. 18 Spin Turns 1-2 [None]);
40-43 (No. 27 Spin Turn 3 [None]);
47-52 (Stage 1 Conclusion [27]);
55-58 (Nos. 8, 31 Incident Turn 4 [18]);
62-66 (Nos. 44, 48, 78 Incident Frontstretch [08]);
68-75 (Nos. 20, 2, 21, 19, 16, 11, 25, 43, 51, 9, 77 Incident Turn 4 [44]);
81-84 (No. 43 Spin Turn 4 [44]);
92-98 (Stage 2 Conclusion [27]);
126-131 (Debris Backstretch [2]);
137-140 (No. 28 Spin Turn 2 [31]).
Lead Changes: 18 among 9 drivers;
J. Nemechek 1-6;
S. Mayer 7-40;
A. Hill 41;
J. Clements 42;
K. Larson(i) 43-57;
S. Mayer 58;
K. Larson(i) 59-74;
J. Nemechek 75;
K. Larson(i) 76-89;
J. Nemechek 90-92;
J. Allgaier 93;
G. Gaulding 94;
C. Hocevar(i) 95-97;
J. Nemechek 98-127;
J. Allgaier 128;
P. Emerling 129;
J. Nemechek 130-146;
K. Larson(i) 147.
Unofficial Points: Shriners Children’s 200 - Darlington Raceway
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) John Hunter Nemechek 20 11 1 424 0 0 2 4 14
2) Austin Hill 21 11 -1 423 -1 1 3 3 18
3) Justin Allgaier 7 11 2 371 -53 52 0 4 4
4) Josh Berry 8 11 0 367 -57 4 0 1 1
5) Cole Custer 00 11 1 365 -59 2 0 2 2
6) Chandler Smith # 16 11 -3 340 -84 25 1 1 6
7) Sheldon Creed 2 11 0 330 -94 10 0 1 1
8) Sammy Smith # 18 11 1 323 -101 7 1 0 5
9) Riley Herbst 98 11 -1 313 -111 10 0 0 0
10) Sam Mayer 1 11 1 309 -115 4 0 0 0
11) Daniel Hemric 11 11 -1 307 -117 2 0 0 0
12) Parker Kligerman 48 11 2 274 -150 33 0 1 1
13) Jeb Burton 27 11 0 273 -151 1 1 1 6
14) Brandon Jones 9 11 -2 264 -160 9 0 0 0
15) Ryan Sieg 39 11 0 244 -180 20 0 0 0
16) Brett Moffitt 25 11 0 234 -190 10 0 0 0
17) Parker Retzlaff # 31 11 0 212 -212 22 0 0 0
18) Ryan Truex 19 6 0 197 -227 15 1 2 0
19) Kaz Grala 26 11 0 195 -229 2 0 0 0
20) Jeremy Clements 51 11 0 179 -245 16 0 0 0
21) Anthony Alfredo 78 11 0 167 -257 12 0 0 0
22) Josh Williams 92 10 2 154 -270 13 0 0 0
23) Kyle Sieg 28 11 -1 145 -279 9 0 0 0
24) Joe Graf Jr 38 11 -1 142 -282 3 0 0 0
25) Ryan Ellis 43 11 0 137 -287 5 0 0 0
26) Brennan Poole 6 11 0 126 -298 11 0 0 0
27) Gray Gaulding 08 10 0 104 -320 22 0 0 0
28) Jeffrey Earnhardt 45 11 0 101 -323 3 0 0 0
29) Derek Kraus 4 0 88 -336 13 0 0 0
30) Alex Labbe 5 0 87 -337 1 0 0 0
31) Kyle Weatherman 6 0 86 -338 1 0 0 0
32) Joey Gase 7 0 78 -346 8 0 0 0
33) Patrick Emerling 35 7 1 73 -351 5 0 0 0
34) Blaine Perkins # 02 9 -1 65 -359 8 0 0 0
35) Stefan Parsons 07 4 2 53 -371 12 0 0 0
36) Connor Mosack 5 -1 51 -373 2 0 0 0
37) Garrett Smithley 6 -1 41 -383 10 0 0 0
38) Cj Mclaughlin 4 0 34 -390 7 0 0 0
39) Leland Honeyman 3 0 34 -390 0 0 0 0
40) Myatt Snider 1 0 33 -391 1 0 0 0
41) Caesar Bacarella 2 0 32 -392 1 0 0 0
42) Josh Bilicki 3 0 26 -398 6 0 0 0
43) Miguel Paludo 1 0 24 -400 2 0 0 0
44) Parker Chase 2 0 22 -402 2 0 0 0
45) David Starr 2 0 17 -407 5 0 0 0
46) Sage Karam 44 3 2 14 -410 3 0 0 0
47) Jade Buford 2 -1 13 -411 1 0 0 0
48) Brad Perez 1 -1 8 -416 5 0 0 0
49) Jesse Iwuji 1 0 7 -417 1 0 0 0
50) Dexter Stacey 1 0 2 -422 5 0 0 0
51) Dawson Cram 2 0 2 -422 0 0 0 0
52) Preston Pardus 1 0 1 -423 1 0 0 0
53) Aj Allmendinger 1 0 0 -424 1 1 1 0
54) Kyle Larson(i) 10 1 0 0 -424 0 1 1 0
55) William Byron(i) 1 -1 0 -424 0 0 0 0
56) Ty Gibbs 1 -1 0 -424 0 0 0 0
57) Kyle Busch 2 -1 0 -424 0 0 0 0
58) Carson Hocevar(i) 77 2 12 0 -424 0 0 0 0
59) Austin Dillon 1 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
60) Justin Haley 2 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
61) Corey Heim(i) 24 2 8 0 -424 0 0 0 0
62) Tyler Reddick 2 -3 0 -424 0 0 0 0
63) Chris Hacker 1 -3 0 -424 0 0 0 0
64) Ross Chastain(i) 91 2 0 0 -424 0 0 0 0
65) Ty Dillon(i) 3 1 0 0 -424 0 0 0 0
66) Rajah Caruth 3 -5 0 -424 0 0 0 0
67) Matt Mills(i) 53 2 -5 0 -424 0 0 0 0
68) Chad Chastain 2 -5 0 -424 0 0 0 0
69) Aric Almirola 1 -4 0 -424 0 0 0 0
70) Bayley Currey 4 -4 0 -424 0 0 0 0
71) Timmy Hill 2 -4 0 -424 0 0 0 0
72) Mason Maggio 1 -4 0 -424 0 0 0 0
73) Kaden Honeycutt 1 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
74) Cameron Lawrence 0 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
75) Jason White 0 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
76) Ryan Vargas 0 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
77) Chad Finchum 0 -1 0 -424 0 0 0 0
78) Baltazar Leguizam?n 0 -3 0 -424 0 0 0 0
79) Mike Harmon 0 -2 0 -424 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
John Davison
Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.