Last week I noted that if you led 100 or more laps at Las Vegas, you had a pretty good shot at winning the race. Well Kyle Larson did just that, and more. He won both stages and led the most laps with 133 and the final 45. But it almost did not come to pass.
Midway through the race he lost it between turns 1 and 2, hit the wall and somehow kept his car going straight and not overcorrect and put his front end into the wall as well. A special piece of driving and car control right there, my friends.
In addition to all that Larson had going for him and in spite of a decent lead, polesitter Christopher Bell had his car some to life and he very nearly caught Larson for the win. Bell got to Larson’s bumper but that was about it, he just didn’t have a run to pass.
The rest of the race was a pretty calm and saw nearly all the Round of 8 drivers in the Top 10 – but at this stage of the game, that just isn’t enough. While he finished P2 and gathered some stage points, Bell is 3 points below the cut line.
Can you stand it?
Reddick was P7 and is -15.
Chris Buescher fought hard to finish P10 but he now sits -23 and Ryan Blaney finished P6 but was DQd for an unapproved shock and now sits -56. Talk about a must win situation.
Things of note: Having. A hard time getting amped up about your driver?
Yeah, me too. I enjoyed seeing Allmendinger win the Roval because at least he made things interesting. Right now, the next two races will be hard pressed to see someone outside the Top 8 win. Hamlin is a 5 time winner at Martinsville and it’s a good place for Martin Truex, Jr. to get well. Might be a better chance of an outside winner at Phoenix.
While Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski have been running well, I am not sure they have the muster to stay in front of the Round of 8 guys. The motivation is certainly there and both of these drivers would love to rain on any championship parade.
The most we can ask for this week may be to see if MTJ can stay in front of Bell. On paper, you would have to say he can but Bell has a super-fast car right now and while speed matters, handling will be more important at Martinsville. Experience may reign supreme at Martinsville this week.
Other than that, root for Ryan Blaney to pull out a win in the next two weeks to get himself out of the terrible hole his team put him in. Or turn on the NFL and check back here next week.
Check out past articles I’ve written here.
Keep the shiny side up!
(Photo by Tom Copeland/HHP for Chevy Racing)
