CONCORD, N.C. - Soon, if not already, race fans will look back at last Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway and see Kyle Larson’s 26th-place result and not think anything more about it.
But that 26th-place finish could loom every bit as large as Larson’s 60-point, race-winning sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway the week before.
With the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 8 cutoff looming after next Sunday’s race at the Charlotte ROVAL, every point matters. And for the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet team, rallies like the one put on at Kansas are just as much part of the gig as spraying champagne in victory lane like it did at Bristol.
“It all matters,” crew chief Cliff Daniels said. “We’ve been doing this long enough to know there’s no singular race that makes or breaks you.
“Because all of it matters, we know that every moment you have to make a good decision, you have to put yourself in a better opportunity to succeed or to gain points or gain positions.”
At Kansas, that was the difference in finishing 26th or 30th. Or worse.
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Sure, on the surface, a 26th-place finish is nothing to stop and gawk at, but it was anything but mundane for the men behind the scenes and the crew repeatedly leaping over the wall.
To recap, after running over debris on the race track on Lap 19, Larson blew a tire with the car slapped the wall hard enough to bring out a caution, leaving damage on the right side and more importantly, on the underbody, where the Next Gen car gets so much of its downforce.
Immediately, the crew sprung to life and plans were crafted on the fly, the first of which was to prioritize staying on the lead lap. That meant Larson ducked onto pit road immediately, with the crew changing tires just so the 5 car could roll around the track to pit again under yellow, this time with repairs in mind.
“We’re going and grabbing the initial tools we think we’ll need. You’re guessing, but you at least want to take a stab at it,” Jesse Saunders, car chief for the No. 5 team, explained. “The biggest thing is to get tires on it and maintain staying on the lead lap. And you have to be ready to audible from there.
“We essentially have four different radio channels to communicate with. Once (Larson) gets caught back up, the next thing turns into getting this car back to the performance. Him coming back down, us looking it over. What is broke? What’s missing? Whatever that looks like. Making sure the wheels are straight. Anything we can visually see all while trying to maintain the lead lap and staying caught up.”
Complicating matters is NASCAR’s damaged vehicle policy (DVP), dictating that teams have up to 10 minutes to reach minimum speed before being disqualified for the rest of the event.
Luckily on Sunday, the damage wasn’t that critical. But certainly, Larson’s car was nowhere near what it had been prior to the crash. Though the 5 team was able to keep the car on the lead lap through the ensuing cycle of pit stops, Larson lost a lap on the track during an extended green flag run.
However, that run proved critical in the diagnosis of damage.
“That whole time during the next green flag run we were able to really assess from the photos and talking through what Jesse had seen, what our mechanics had seen and what some of the pit crew had seen,” Daniels said. “That’s when we had a more elaborate plan which was a three-step process of coming back down pit road.”
Specifically, Larson’s car had substantial damage to the diffuser, a carbon fiber composite under the rear of the car integrally important to the car’s grip and overall speed.
“We knew we were going to have to patch it up the best we could,” Daniels said. “Unfortunately, it’s a carbon fiber panel, so there’s really no good way to get it pieced back together that’s going to be optimum for its shape, design and function.”
Saunders elaborated on the situation.
“It’s hard because you’re kind of restrained with this car and the rules now where you can’t add pieces,” he said. “Back in the day, you could be a little more creative in fixing it. You had a bigger tool chest to work with.
“Our biggest problem on Sunday is that the original part needed to go back on. Essentially, things you’d send off to the manufacturer to get repaired in the correct way, we’re trying to do with tape and screws. That’s the biggest hurdle. It is a very performance-heavy area of the car so it was a very unique situation we had coupled with being limited on how you can fix it, so, your hand is really kind of tied behind your back.”
And yet the crew kept working. Through 13 pit stops. Through numerous repairs. Through game plans and strategies.
Yet, throughout the race-long grind, there were no big pep talks. On the 5 team, they aren’t needed.
"I think there’s just no quit in this team until NASCAR is like, “You’ve got to park it or you can’t drive it,’” rear tire changer Calvin Teague said. “So, that’s what’s unique about our team, we’ve all had the highs, we’ve all had the lows but there’s just no quit.”
That mentality is echoed by the rest of the team and it’s not just a hollow talking point. It’s an attitude, forged more by the tough days than the good days. Days like Sunday’s, when the character of a crew can determine the direction of a season.
“If you look at this team, any good accomplishment we have, you can find the exact opposite heartbreak we’ve suffered somewhere and those are learning moments and what shapes your team,” Saunders said. “The experience isn’t just reps and years for this team, it’s losses.”
“Some of the best teams in all of sports, in crisis mode, they know how to simplify, how to keep things calm, kind of slow things down even when the world is moving fast around you,” Daniels concluded. “I think that’s what our team does well. We’re able to slow it down and kind of methodically communicate through and come up with a plan on what has to happen.
“We’ve lived some incredibly high highs and incredibly low lows and honestly, on the back side of all those things, I’m thankful for both but I’m especially thankful for the especially challenging days because it’s taught our team how to maintain composure, communication and a lot of the fundamentals to working through a day like that where it isn’t going your way.”