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Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Kyle Larson‘s last-lap pass to win Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway “looks fine,” backing NASCAR’s ruling that Larson did not go below the yellow line.
Photos of the finish spread on social media Sunday night appearing to show Larson’s left-side tires on the double yellow line as he charged from outside the top 10 to the win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. responded on X.
“This looks fine to me,” Earnhardt wrote. “The photo used here, Larson has already achieved the pass anyways. And for the record, Haley was penalized unfairly. So was Regan Smith.”
https://x.com/DaleJr/status/2114509423570006372
What NASCAR said
NASCAR reviewed the finish and said the pass was legal, The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck reported. Officials told Gluck that Larson’s left-side tires were on the yellow line but never below it.
NASCAR then clarified its explanation twice. It first told Gluck that both tires had to be fully below the line for a penalty, then corrected that to say one tire below the line could be a violation. In both versions, NASCAR said Larson never had any tire below the line.
https://x.com/jeff_gluck/status/2114502450287985014
NASCAR also checked whether any Chevrolet drivers lifted to help Larson win. Gluck reported that SMT data showed Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Cole Custer were all wide open from Turn 3 to the finish.
The yellow-line rule
At Talladega and Daytona, drivers may not go below the double yellow line at the bottom of the track to advance their position. NASCAR vice president of racing communications Mike Forde has said the rule covers any position a driver gains by going below the line, even if the pass is not completed while below it.
Earnhardt’s post referred to two of the best-known penalties under the rule. Regan Smith crossed the line first at Talladega in 2008 but was ruled to have passed Tony Stewart below the yellow line, and Stewart was awarded the win. Justin Haley crossed the line first in the July 2018 Xfinity Series race at Daytona but was penalized for going below the yellow line, and Kyle Larson was awarded the win.
Larson’s lead grows
The win was Larson’s first at Talladega and stretched his Chase lead to 73 points over Denny Hamlin with two races left. Larson beat Hendrick Motorsports teammate Byron to the line by 0.041 seconds after being shuffled back from the lead on the final lap.
The Cup Series races next at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, on Sunday, November 1, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.
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