Larson Keeps Cup Points Lead After Crashing Out at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Larson hung on to the NASCAR Cup Series championship lead after a crash-out of a race ended with a crash Sunday at Phoenix Raceway.

With a 34th-place in Sunday's Freeway Insurance 500, Larson lead of 49 points over Denny Hamlin and 51 over Christopher Bell turned into a lead of five points over Bell, 24 over Chase Briscoe and 31 over Hamlin in now a seven-way fight for the Cup. 

From the green flag in Saturday's practice to the checkered flag in Sunday's race, Larson's No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet never showed speed. The NASCAR Cup Series points leader finished practice outside of the top-10 in overall speed and on the 10-lap average. 

Then, in qualifying, Larson clocked in 22nd -- putting the odds against him. In 60 previous Cup Series races at Phoenix, only three times had a winner qualified 22nd or worse. 

Yet, seeing how Las Vegas went, many believed Larson might not be in such bad shape at Phoenix.

Phoenix arguably started better than Las Vegas with Larson gaining spots, from 22nd to 16th before the first caution on lap 45.

Daniels tried working his magic, calling for two new tires on the No. 5 car and putting his driver in fifth for the ensuing restart on lap 50. However, as the last driver on a two-tire call with drivers on four tires swarming him, Larson fell all the way back to 22nd in 10 laps. 

Back on his feet and equal tires, Larson had to essentially restart the race. It started about the same as the initial start as he jumped to 16th and even raced Hamlin at one point. 

However, Larson faded -- even worse. He dropped to 24th and then to 26th at around lap 111. During green flag pit stops, he lost a lap and was 26th, one lap down on lap 130. 

A caution on lap 158 put Larson back on the lead lap with the wave around but he had much older tires that risked putting him a lap down.

Daniels took care of his driver and had faith in him: Larson stayed on the lead lap by less than a straightaway when the second stage ended on lap 185.

Larson started the final stage in 27th and on the lead lap but the speed still wasn't there. He could only get up to 24th before the race came crashing down on lap 284. 

Larson finished 34th after completing 281 laps. With a driver rating of 49.3, out of 150, it was only the third non-drafting oval race in his entire Hendrick Motorsports tenure where he scored a driver rating that low or lower. The others were the Spring 2025 race at Darlington Raceway (24.5) and the Fall 2024 race at Kansas Speedway (45.3). 

Next is Talladega Superspeedway. Larson ranks third for average points earned per race in the NextGen era (29.4). Only teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron are ahead of them in that metric -- and they're out of championship contention. 

Larson will want to repeat finishes of fourth in the fall 2024 race and second in the spring 2025 race and not what he has done the last two races.  Larson finished 26th after running out of fuel while leading last fall and 40th after getting in a crash in the spring. 

If Larson can leave Talladega with a solid lead, he is a past winner at Martinsville Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway -- likely setting him up as the favorite.