Kyle Larson came to take the rest of the NASCAR Cup series to school once more Sunday. Nearly mirroring his dominance at Bristol last month, Larson led a race high 62 laps on Charlotte’s ROVAL to comfortably win by 1.5 seconds over Christopher Bell.
It was almost like watching a lion in a cage of sheep.
“Yeah, really it’s the first time in my playoff career I’ve not been close to the cut line,” Larson said. “So it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend. I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe besides the other time I won.”
Larson retook the lead on lap 67 rocketing 4 positions back to the front ceding it only for a lap for a final round of green flag stops on lap 77 and pulling away like he was in a different race altogether. William Byron, Austin Cindric, and Chase Elliott finished behind him, but let’s be honest—they were merely riding along for the view.
Though to hear Larson tell it, it wasn’t straightforward.
“Honestly, there at the end, it wasn’t as easy as I was expecting,” Larson said. “I felt like when (Christopher) Bell was behind me earlier….once we got to a certain point of the run, I could really pull away. Then there at the end, he was really matching me, and I was driving pretty hard. So, I was nervous that I was going to start fading some more and he was going to get better and get close to me. But thankfully, I could push a little bit and get some time back in other areas where I was good. We just had a great race car, a comfortable race car, which is what you need here. A lot more comfort than I have had in the past.”
While Larson was busy popping champagne, two-time champion Joey Logano and three others were left to ponder what went wrong. Logano said at the end he felt helpless.
“Tires were coming behind you with two of the best with AJ (Allmendinger) and SVG coming at me,” Logano said. “I was just trying to maintain the best I could and honestly was praying for a caution because that was the only thing that could stir it up enough to where a lot of what-ifs can happen. Congrats to them (Reddick). They fought hard, changing toe links and all that and were still able to make it. It just wasn’t meant to be. You can start looking back at different points in the season to gather four points pretty easily. One race in particular. Talladega we didn’t do a good enough job scoring Stage points and that is where a lot of it lies.”
In a late night dramatic twist however, Alex Bowman’s Chevy failed post race inspection. That gave him a DQ, and he lost the Stage points he had earned for winning Stage 2 and finishing 18th in the race. It dropped him out of the top 8 and put Logano into the Round of 8. Monday Hendrick Motorsports said they would not appeal guaranteeing that Bowman will be out of this year’s Playoffs and Logano has a new Playoff life.
Pole sitter Shane van Gisbergen led the first 21 laps giving up the top spot to regular season champion Tyler Reddick on lap 22 as many of the leader’s pit under green prior to the end of the Stage. Reddick, in desperate need of a Stage win, was among several who elected to stay out and he won the Stage. Logano, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney kept that same strategy and finished just behind Reddick. Larson meanwhile did pit on lap 20 five laps before the end of the stage and finished 5th, not only scoring valuable Stage points but inheriting the lead as the top four came in under caution. After pitting Reddick led Logano, Elliott and Blaney from 26th.
Green came out on lap 30 and soon Reddick’s strategy looked about as wise as a screen door on a submarine. Austin Dillon decided to make a spectacle of himself by spinning in Turn 7 on lap 31 and Reddick was forced to break hard to avoid direct contact. It led to a slide and a hard hit with another Playoff driver, Denny Hamlin, and a broken front toe link. He was forced to pit in an attempt to confirm the issue and came back out 37th. Hamlin too, reported a possible broken rear toe link.
A few laps later Chase Briscoe, who came into the race already on thin ice in the standings, suffered his own disaster with a flat tire. A caution for debris—ironically, his own tire carcass—was his only glimmer of hope.
He did come out 27th, but a few laps later made contact with a spinning Austin Dillon and had to go back to the pits to check for damage. Briscoe lost a lap during the stop, and his Playoff hopes as the crew soon took the car to the garage and he was out of the race.
Alex Bowman, who had pitted 4 laps before the end of Stage 2 and inherited the lead when Larson dove in a lap later, won the Stage again keeping his “quiet Playoff contender” narrative alive. With his 10th place finish in the Stage, Larson was able to clinch his spot in the next round of the Playoffs.
After being bullied much of the race, Daniel Suarez pitted with brake issues on lap 56 during a caution for debris on the track. He would end the day 31st.
Last year’s winner AJ Allmendinger took the lead to start the final stage, but Larson, who restarted fifth, would have none of it, and grabbed the lead on lap 67 going on to win.
While Larson had the win all wrapped up, the real drama unfolded behind him for the final spot to advance into the next round. Reddick was in demon mode fighting his issues, below the cutoff and trying to fight his way back into the Playoffs. Logano had no such issues and was running inside the top 10 in the closing stages holding tight to the final spot while Reddick was below the cutline.
It became a chess match of sorts with Reddick trying to move forward from his 15th place spot while Logano was in defensive mode trying to hold onto his 6th place spot.
With 10 laps to go, Logano fell to 7th, the points were tied and Logano held the tiebreaker. Reddick, still outside the top 10 continued his march forward and thanks in part to the graciousness of his team co-owner Denny Hamlin who needed only a clean race to advance, was 12th with 8 to go and moved ahead of Logano in the standings.
Reddick would finish 11th. Logano 8th. When he left the track Logano was eliminated. But with Bowman’s post-race failure and DQ, Logano was back in and Bowman out.
In addition to Bowman and Briscoe, Suarez and Austin Cindric were eliminated.
Allmendinger was sixth, van Gisbergen 7th with Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney completing the top 10 behind Logano.
Meanwhile, Hendrick Motorsports strutted into the Round of 8, with all four of their cars still in the championship hunt. Team Penske? They were left in the dust, with two of their cars taking an early exit
If you’re looking for a championship favorite, look no further than Larson and his team. The last time he conquered the ROVAL was 2021—a year that ended with him hoisting the championship trophy.
The Round of 8 kicks off in Las Vegas next Sunday, and wouldn’t you know it? Larson is the defending champion there too.
Greg was a writer for DriveTribe supporting Amazon's The Grand Tour and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, and a Masters degree in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek and a regular contributor to Forbes.