NASCAR: Five Lessons Learned From Darlington

Don’t Be Deceived By Strong Finishes

With the Chase almost here, it seemed like new drivers were entering the mix at Darlington and competing in the top 10 to try and look strong heading into the post-season.

Kyle Larson and Ryan Newman for example, are two drivers who you don’t typically see in the top 10 and even though Larson won his first race of the Sprint Cup Series last weekend at Michigan, it would have been hard to guess that he would have another strong run this weekend as well.

Don’t let their top 10 finishes fool you though; both drivers failed post-race inspection after Darlington on Sunday.

Post-race inspection failures seem to be a growing issue in NASCAR and it impacts how manufacturers and teams look heading into the Chase.

With his third place finish this weekend and win at Michigan last weekend, it looked like Larson had come alive and had a ton of momentum heading into the Chase. But how much of it was actually Larson at Darlington and not whatever changes were made to his car to fail inspection?

The same can be said about Ryan Newman, but his issues are much worse. Larson is locked into the Chase, Newman is still trying to make it in on points. When the penalties come out for these failures he could lose points and it could cost him a spot in the Chase.

It’s great to see new drivers compete in the top 10 as NASCAR moves from track to track and it makes it seem like other organizations could have a chance in the Chase.

When teams fail post-race inspection though, it makes it look like they need to find a way to cheat the system in order to compete.

Next: Flawless Victory