Kyle Larson suffered a major setback in his pursuit of a third Cup Series championship after a disastrous outing at Phoenix Raceway. A flat front-right tire sent his No. 5 Chevrolet into the wall, relegating him to a 34th-place finish. The difficult race snapped a dominant six-week postseason run that had featured two victories, two second-place finishes, and an average placing of 2.83, marking the strongest six-race playoff opening since the post-season format was introduced in 2004. 5’s free fall was just as eye-catching as his previous dominance in NASCAR’s postseason. It was a stellar run reminiscent of Jimmie Johnson’s peak in the 2000s. Six weeks of excellence in NASCAR’s playoffs had disappeared in the span of a few miserable hours in the desert on Sunday.
Trouble began early for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, who struggled during Saturday’s qualifying session to start 22nd. On race day, Larson spent the afternoon trailing near the back of the field before the tire failure ended his competitive run. “I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad either,” Larson admitted after exiting his damaged vehicle. “It wasn’t a lot of fun today, but we were just trying to salvage what we could of the day. We’ll go to Talladega and try to forget about today and get back after it.” Limping around the mile tri-oval in the back of the pack before the flat tire that almost seemed like a merciful ending, he wasn’t any better during the race. It’s back to the garage to figure out what went wrong. He’s back in the hunt for title – though still a considerable long shot.
Despite the poor result, Larson retains a narrow 5-point lead in the playoff standings over Christopher Bell heading into the upcoming event at Talladega. Chase contender Chase Briscoe sits third, 24 points behind, while Denny Hamlin follows at 31 points back. Ryan Blaney trails by 40 points, Joey Logano by 44, and Tyler Reddick by 56 with three races remaining in the season. 45 Toyota has newfound momentum heading into Talladega.
Reddick took the victory at Phoenix Raceway to earn his sixth win of the year. Blaney finished second, Elliott placed third, and Bell finished fourth. Reddick’s 23XI Racing team had opened the year with four wins across the first six races before experiencing a summer slump. “We just had to keep showing up, stay focused on the details,” Reddick explained. “We did a good job of just fighting through the things that we needed to work on today, just making the right calls at the right time.”
Bell closed the margin on the championship lead after his fourth-place effort in the desert. “It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure,” Bell noted regarding the title chase. “We’re right there in it. Really proud of our team. They’ve been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races.”
Briscoe remains in contention following consecutive victories at Las Vegas and Charlotte. Meanwhile, Hamlin experienced a tough outing in Phoenix, finishing 28th after a flat tire and a subsequent pit road speeding penalty while attempting to control his car. Despite falling from second to fourth in the driver standings, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota team managed to gain ground overall from a points perspective.
Blaney and Logano delivered strong performances for Joe Gibbs Racing, building momentum as the series prepares for Talladega. Larson remains focused on turning his performance around at the superspeedway. “We’ve done well at the superspeedways, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt,” he added.
Toyota officially secured the NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturers’ Championship at Phoenix, capturing its first manufacturers’ title since 2019. The manufacturer has earned 18 race victories so far this season, representing its highest single-season win total in seven years.
Toyota drivers currently hold five of the top nine positions in the playoff standings. Bell leads the contingent at No. 2, followed by Briscoe at No. 3, Hamlin at No. 4, Reddick at No. 7, and Ty Gibbs at No. 9, with Bubba Wallace sitting in 12th place.
