Tire issue sees Kyle Larson’s point lead evaporate at Phoenix
AVONDALE, Ariz. – A right-rear tire issue in Stage 3 of the Freeway Insurance 500 relegated Kyle Larson to a 32nd-place finish, wiping away a majority of his point lead with three races left in the NASCAR Cup Series season.
After starting 22nd, Larson failed to collect stage points, ultimately finishing 34th.
The defending champion’s point lead prior to Phoenix was 49 over Denny Hamlin, 51 over Christopher Bell, and 65 over Chase Briscoe. Now, Larson has 5 points over Bell in second, Chase Briscoe (-24), Hamlin (-31), Ryan Blaney (-40), Joey Logano (-44), and Tyler Reddick (-56).
“I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad either,” Larson said. “It wasn’t a lot of fun today, but we were just trying to salvage what we could of the day.”
In the remaining three races, Larson’s only winless track is Talladega, next Sunday, but has wins at Martinsville, and at the season finale at Homestead-Miami.
“We’ll go to Talladega and try to forget about today and get back after it,” Larson said. “We’ve done well at the superspeedway’s, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt.”
SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info, Team Chevrolet
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.