Onboard video reveals Kyle Larson was told not to push Brad Keselowski to win at Talladega
At the end of Talladega, it was Kyle Larson pushing Brad Keselowski and William Byron behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In a close finish at the line, Stenhouse ended up taking home the win with Keselowski 0.006 seconds behind. Third closest finish of the NASCAR season.
Surrounded by Chevys, it felt like Keselowski was on his own in his Ford. Still, it appeared that Kyle Larson pushed the No. 6 car like he would have any other. But is that what really happened?
The onboard video from the final two laps tells a different story.
Larson’s spotter is heard in the video telling his driver to not clear the outside line. Then as the cars come down through the tri-oval it gets more explicit.
“Keep your push here, keep pushed up here. Don’t push him to the win though. Stay off of him, stay off of him, stay off of him – checkered flag. Good work.”
Right after the finish, Kyle Larson asked his team who won the race, perhaps seeing if he had laid off Keselowski enough. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.
The video even prompted Brad Keselowski to respond. He actually thanked Kyle Larson on pit road for the pushes he got from the 5 car. But that was before seeing this video and hearing the spotter.
“The OEM battle on plate tracks has become next level,” Keselowski posted. I don’t think he means that in a positive way, either.
Why does this matter? Well, some are claiming that this equates to race manipulation.
Did Kyle Larson manipulate Talladega finish?
So, it is clear that Kyle Larson and the Chevy team were supporting Ricky Stenhouse Jr. We know manufacturers are keen on helping each other and not so much about doing whatever you have to do to get the best finish.
Remember Daytona a couple of months ago? Parker Retzlaff got chewed out for pushing Harrison Burton to the win, thinking he had a chance to win the race himself had he cleared the other line.
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NASCAR has a rule that more or less says drivers have to give their all on the track. You can’t woah-up in order to let another driver win the race. But I think this situation has nuance to it.
Neither Brad Keselowski or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are in the playoffs at the moment. No matter which one of those drivers won, the playoffs would remain the exact same as it stands right now. So, what did Larson manipulate?
The last time manipulation happened in the Cup Series…
The last time we saw a manipulation penalty in the Cup Series was Cole Custer at the Roval. NASCAR claimed that he made a move to slow up the field so his teammate, Chase Briscoe, could move up in the field and pick up points he needed to make it to the Round of 8.
The intention was to artificially hurt his own standing in the race in order to give Briscoe more points and put him in the next round. Despite his intentions, Custer didn’t actually have to do that, Briscoe would have made it regardless of that move. But the intent was there.
Did Kyle Larson manipulate the race with the intent to change the points order and advance or hinder himself or another driver? No. He backed off a Ford at a superspeedway so a fellow, non-playoff, Chevy could win. That’s just modern superspeedway racing, folks.
That does not mean that team and manufacturer orders are reasonable. They are not. Drivers should be racing to the line, for the win, at all times. It was bad enough to see Kyle Busch left to hang in a non-existent third lane on the last lap. Racers race and there wasn’t a lot of that going on in those final two laps.