How pit-road performance sparked Kyle Larson’s memorable Martinsville win
Staff Report
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
Kyle Larson’s emotional Martinsville win — just listen to him choke up on his scanner after his first victory at the 0.526-mile short track — was a career-high watermark for the driver, who thought he'd never win at the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit.
That he did speaks to his growth and grind as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, and also to the pit crew making adjustments to the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
At Martinsville, the five-man pit crew of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), veteran R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer) delivered its collective best race performance of the season.
RELATED: See full Martinsville Race Rewind | Cup standings
According to data provided by Racing Insights, Larson's pit crew recorded both the single fastest four-tire pit stop of the race and the overall fastest average four-tire stop on the afternoon.
Pitting on Lap 293, the No. 5 crew turned a 9.677-second stop — the sixth-fastest of the entire season.
[caption id="attachment_389545" align="aligncenter" width="922"]Brittney Wilbur | NASCAR Studios[/caption]
For the entire race, Larson's team averaged 10.051 seconds for four-tire stops. It was the best of the afternoon at a track with a tricky pit-road configuration — not to mention tight pit stalls — and through nine races, it’s the fastest average time of the season.
“They kept working on it and got us better and better,” Larson said. “You know, never once did I really feel like we had the car to win, but we made the right strategy calls and did the right things (on pit road).”
While it was Larson’s team that allowed him to gain spots on pit road, it was ultimately crew chief Cliff Daniels' winning call of taking two tires on the final pit stop that was the final piece of Larson’s day that led to a memorable win.
“I'll be the first to admit for 200 laps, we weren't a winning car. Our car just wasn't great,” Daniels said. “Some of that was what was in our car, and some of that was kind of the track conditions. … I think being able to be more aggressive on the strategy side, get some spots on pit road or spots on what your strategy is, certainly, that's helpful.”
PIT ROAD STATISTICS
Following a banner day by Larson’s team, read on below to see the 10 fastest four-tire stops of the season and the 10 fastest pit crews, on average, throughout the season, according to Racing Insights.
TEN FASTEST FOUR-TIRE PIT STOPS IN 2023
Rank
Track
Driver
Time
1
Richmond
Corey LaJoie
9.309 seconds
2
Richmond
Corey LaJoie
9.615 seconds
3
Phoenix
Ty Gibbs
9.643 seconds
4
Richmond
Chase Briscoe
9.647 seconds
5
Phoenix
Chase Briscoe
9.676 seconds
6
Martinsville
Kyle Larson
9.677 seconds
7
COTA
Martin Truex Jr.
9.684 seconds
8
Phoenix
Kyle Busch
9.688 seconds
9
Richmond
Tyler Reddick
9.749 seconds
10
Las Vegas
Alex Bowman
9.776 seconds
BEST PIT CREWS BY AVERAGE FOUR-TIRE STOP (SEASON-LONG)