For the first time since the end of June, there’s a new leader atop the NASCAR Cup Series standings. Reigning champion and two-time Bill France Cup holder Kyle Larson emerged from 500 chaotic laps at Bristol Motor Speedway a single point clear of the field.
In the opening stage, Larson appeared to be back to his dominant Bristol form. He had won three of the previous seven races at the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile” and recorded six top-five finishes during that span. Larson banked nine points in the opening stage, finishing behind Joey Logano.
Fourteen drivers opted not to pit at the end of the opening stage, leaving Larson buried in the middle of the field. He worked his way back to ninth by the end of Stage 2, but his progress was halted on pit road when he made contact with William Byron, causing significant nose damage to the No. 5 Chevrolet.
“I feel like through the first stage we had the track position and all that,” Larson told USA Sports, “and then the rest of the race kind of worked our way forward and kind of settled into ninth or 10th there. That’s kind of about where we were.”
He didn’t think that the hood damage was much of a hindrance, either.
Larson stated: “I don’t really feel like I was much different after that as far as running position on the track.”
For much of the second half of the Bass Pro Shops 500, Larson was stuck in the back half of the top 10. He gained needed track position, however, after his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman brought out the caution at Lap 430 and crew chief Cliff Daniels left him on the track. With a rash of late cautions, he was able to stay in contention, passing Carson Hocevar off Turn 4 of the final lap to finish runner-up, 1.2 seconds behind Logano.
“Our team fought really hard, and yeah, just made that good pit call there to stay out and then we had a lot of short runs there,” Larson noted. “Yeah, was happy to come away with a second there at the end. That was better than where I thought we could finish.”
Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin, who sat atop the point standings for 11 consecutive weeks, had an average night. He placed third in the opening stage but missed out on stage points entirely in the second stanza. On Lap 397, he was among the majority of the field that lost a lap during a green-flag pit sequence when Riley Herbst crashed while battling with Zane Smith.
Hamlin was the recipient of the free pass when Carson Hocevar nudged Ryan Blaney out of the way on Lap 457 to bring out another yellow. The No. 11 team rallied to eighth place at the checkered flag.
“We just have to get to running a little bit better,” Hamlin told USA Sports. “Today, I thought early on – in the first stage – I really liked my National Debt Relief Toyota. I thought we had a car that would contend for the win, and then second stage, when we took the stage points in stage one that put us to the back, and once we lost track position, it just wasn’t quite as good.
“It is the way it is, but we move on.”
Larson knows there’s still seven weeks before a champion is crowned at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But it’s the first time Hendrick Motorsports has been atop the standings all season.
“It’s good, but there’s still so much racing left,” he added. “Just got to keep having good, consistent days. It’s three top fives to open The Chase and looks like leading the points now by just a point. But we’re going to some good tracks for us but also good tracks for the Toyotas are [Las Vegas Motor Speedway], Kansas [Speedway], Charlotte [Motor Speedway]. It could easily change a lot here in the next upcoming weeks. But we’ve just got to be ready for anything and keep plugging away.”
Hamlin led 340 of the 914 laps contested at the next three tracks on the calendar – all intermediates – earlier this season (37.2%). All three resulted in finishes of fourth or better, including a runaway triumph in Sin City. Larson finished seventh or better in those same three battles.