By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
By all accounts, Sunday’s pivotal Chase race from Phoenix Raceway blew the door open on the NASCAR Cup Series championship fight.
But before the door blew open, it was a right-front tire that blew first on the No. 5 Chevrolet of Kyle Larson. The points leader was on the struggle bus throughout the afternoon, starting 22nd and barely cracking the top 25 on pace.
Tire failures showed their head numerous times on Sunday. And after getting back on the lead lap in Stage 2, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was next in line. The two-time champion popped a right-front tire entering the track’s flat Turn 1, shooting the car into the outside wall. The damage was enough to end the day right then and there.
No stage points. A 34th-place finish. A points advantage literally slashed into pieces.
“Not a good [day],” Larson said outside the infield medical center. “I was just trying to salvage anything in the top 20 would have been great.
“I blew a right front like a lot of people were. It’s a bummer but we just weren’t good. It happens.”
A bad day for the No. 5 was exactly what his competitors were waiting on for seven weeks now.
After starting the Chase with five straight top fives — including two wins and two seconds — Larson had a semi-cozy point advantage. The advantage grew after last week’s sixth-place finish at Charlotte, entering this weekend with 49 points to spare.
But after Sunday’s DNF, Larson now only leads the title hunt by five points after Christopher Bell entering the next round at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, October 25.
“I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad either,” he admitted. “It wasn’t a lot of fun today, but we were just trying to salvage what we could of the day.
“We have to just go [to Talladega] and forget about today and get back after it and do a good job. We’ve done well at the superspeedways so hopefully we can execute and score some points. Just keep ourselves in the hunt.”
Bell will not be Larson’s only worry, as another five drivers gained significant ground this weekend. Chase Briscoe, thanks to back-to-back wins and a top 10 at Phoenix, is now only 24 points back. Denny Hamlin, despite suffering tire issues of his own, lessened his deficit from 49 to 31 markers.
The Team Penske teammates of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano made big strides, now just 40 and 44 points back, respectively. And Sunday’s race winner Tyler Reddick jumped back into focus, leaving the desert 56 points in rears of Larson.