Kyle Larson is hoping his amazing last lap rally to win at NASCAR’s biggest track last week will be enough to help him to a trophy hoist this week at one of the sport’s smallest tracks. And it could be enough to place him in contention for the biggest trophy hoist of the season.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver is on the verge of becoming the first back-to-back NASCAR Cup Series champion since another Hendrick driver, NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson won a record five consecutive titles from 2006-2010.
By virtue of his victory last week at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – the first drafting track win of his career – Larson takes a 73-point advantage over the field into Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
It’s the largest lead any driver has had in the eight Chase races to date and certainly puts the pressure on his closest challengers. Not only is he a former Martinsville winner (2023) but he’s finished top-10 in the last eight races there.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin – tops among Larson’s challengers – happens to be the series’ most successful active driver at Martinsville with six wins. His teammates, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe, who trail Larson by 74 and 79 points, respectively are also in dire need of some short track magic.
Team Penske teammates Joey Logano (-100) and Ryan Blaney (-106) are hopeful to renew some of their own Martinsville magic. Logano, who is making his 650th career NASCAR Cup Series start this weekend, has been particularly good on short tracks this year and is actually in position to become the first driver since 2007 to earn four short track wins in a single season. He shows up at the .526-mile Martinsville “paper clip” with victories on the schedule’s last two short tracks.
And Blaney has shown himself particularly capable at Martinsville with a pair of victories in the last six races there and finishes or first or second in five of the last 13 races there.
Hamlin has been particularly impressive on the short tracks and now racing for his championship life, he could use some of that mojo. His 15 short track wins are essentially double that of any other driver – Logano has eight.
The two are also ranked first and second in average finish this season on short tracks – Logano 4.5 to Hamlin’s 5.0. They also top the current championship-eligible field in points earned on short tracks – Logano has 71-point edge on Hamlin here. Logano’s 511 laps led on short tracks is second only to his teammate Blaney’s 612.
Larson is only averaging an 11.3 finish on this style of track, but has led 311 laps – third on the list among championship eligible drivers.
It’s worth noting Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron are the most recent Martinsville race winners, with Byron claiming the Fall race win last year from pole position and leading an absolutely dominating 304 of the 500 laps.
“There’s still two races,” Larson warned following his victory last week. “It’s so easy to look at it and be like, ‘Oh, the 5’s got it.’”
He is taking nothing for granted and insists he’s racing this week no differently than he would without a third career title on the line.
“There’s still a lot of racing left,” he said. “All you guys [in the media] are like, ‘This person is out, this person has it locked up.’ They win or something happens, boom, the picture completely changes.”
Practice gets underway at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday followed by Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 2:05 p.m. ET – both sessions broadcast on truTV and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
— NASCAR News Wire —