With simply eight races remaining in NASCAR’s common season, the battle for the regular-season championship is locked in a lifeless warmth.
After an unlucky sequence of occasions for Chase Elliott and a late-race cost by Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports teammates discover themselves tied atop NASCAR’s common season standings.
With 15 essential playoff factors being awarded to the winner of the regular-season championship, do not count on the 2 champions to chop one another any slack of their hunt for the regular-season title.
After amassing their respective drivers’ championships in consecutive seasons — Elliott in 2020 and Larson in 2021 — each drivers collected regular-season championships in consecutive seasons as properly, with Larson profitable his regular-season title in 2021 and Elliott profitable his in 2022.
Elliott got here into the race with an eight-point lead over Larson, however Sunday’s pole-sitter bumped into bother. Joey Logano collected Elliott in a mid-race incident, sending the No. 9 automobile for a spin that relegated him to the again of the pack. Whereas Elliott would drive his means as much as tenth within the closing laps, it was Larson — who would’ve completed the race in seventh if it hadn’t been restarted — who would mount a cost to the entrance, even difficult Tyler Reddick for the lead when the race resumed.
Whereas Larson would not be in the correct place to win, his fourth-place end was sufficient to make sure that was even with Elliott within the regular-season standings as the sector now seems in direction of Nashville.
As if June 29’s Ally 400 wanted any extra intrigue, let or not it’s recognized that each Larson (2021) and Elliott (2022) are prior winners at Nashville. Each will probably be within the combine for the win on Sunday night, so do not be shocked if the regular-season title continues to be a dogfight after NASCAR leaves Music Metropolis.
