With just eight races remaining in NASCAR’s regular season, the battle for the regular-season championship is locked in a dead heat.
After an unfortunate series of events for Chase Elliott and a late-race charge by Kyle Larson, the Hendrick Motorsports teammates find themselves tied atop NASCAR’s regular season standings.
With 15 crucial playoff points being awarded to the winner of the regular-season championship, don’t expect the two champions to cut each other any slack in their hunt for the regular-season title.
After collecting their respective drivers’ championships in consecutive seasons — Elliott in 2020 and Larson in 2021 — both drivers collected regular-season championships in consecutive seasons as well, with Larson winning his regular-season title in 2021 and Elliott winning his in 2022.
Elliott came into the race with an eight-point lead over Larson, but Sunday’s pole-sitter ran into trouble. Joey Logano collected Elliott in a mid-race incident, sending the No. 9 car for a spin that relegated him to the back of the pack. While Elliott would drive his way up to 10th in the closing laps, it was Larson — who would’ve finished the race in seventh if it hadn’t been restarted — who would mount a charge to the front, even challenging Tyler Reddick for the lead when the race resumed.
While Larson wouldn’t be in the right position to win, his fourth-place finish was enough to ensure that was even with Elliott in the regular-season standings as the field now looks towards Nashville.
As if June 29’s Ally 400 needed any more intrigue, let it be known that both Larson (2021) and Elliott (2022) are prior winners at Nashville. Both will likely be in the mix for the win on Sunday evening, so don’t be surprised if the regular-season title is still a dogfight after NASCAR leaves Music City.
