NASCAR has a new points leader after Bristol night race

As a long-time NASCAR enthusiast with countless hours spent cheering for my favorite drivers, I can confidently say that Kyle Larson’s performance at Bristol Motor Speedway was nothing short of phenomenal! The man is on fire this season, and his dominance at Bristol only solidifies his position as a force to be reckoned with.

In the final stage of the race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson from Hendrick Motorsports was ranked ninth in the overall standings, which put him in a slightly challenging spot as he aimed to move forward to the next round (round of 12).

Larson kicked off the playoffs with an impressive 40 playoff points, which was the highest among all competitors due to his leading four victories during the regular season, tied record of 10 stage wins, and second place in overall season points. However, a crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a less-than-stellar race at Watkins Glen International unfortunately caused him to lose that lead.

However, the driver with the second most playoff points after Kyle Larson was Christopher Bell from Joe Gibbs Racing, earning 32 points. Regardless of whether Bell had won Saturday night’s round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as its initial two stages, he would have only accumulated seven additional playoff points, amounting to a total of 39 points, which would still trail behind Larson.

So all Larson needed to do to retake the points lead ahead of the round of 12 was advance.

All he did was lead 462 of the 500 laps of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennesse oval.

With his victory in the race, as well as triumphing in two stages earlier, he accumulated seven extra playoff points, bringing his total up to 47. Consequently, he now enjoys a 15-point advantage over Bell at the onset of the quarterfinal round.

Larson is set to open up the round of 12 sitting 39 points above the round of 8 cut line.

It is also worth mentioning that, in terms of total points scored (excluding playoff resets), Larson’s perfect 60-point effort on Saturday night means that he has overtaken 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick for the lead.

Reddick clinched the regular season title, earning him 15 playoff points rather than 10, by just one point more than Larson. The additional point that Larson missed out on was due to his decision to race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during a rain-delayed Indy 500 instead of competing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway back in May.

Prepare yourself for the kickoff of the round of 12 at the Hollywood Casino 400, airing on September 29 at 3:00 p.m. ET on USA Network. Tune in live from Kansas Speedway! If you haven’t already, sign up for a free trial of FuboTV today to catch all the action!

2024-09-22 13:32

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