Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin is not a NASCAR rivalry, though Larson may have driven the worst race of his Cup Series career trying to make it one.
Larson ruffled feathers and bent sheet metal at Nashville on Sunday, and one could argue that it came while trying to finally even the score with Hamlin.
The most obvious example, was Larson bottoming out on the apron trying to get to Hamlin’s bumper on an overtime restart, only to swing high and wipe out Ross Chastain, who was racing for an all-important win and playoff ticket.
BUY THE BOOK ON DAYTONA! Celebrate the fast-paced history of the Daytona 500 with this new book
Also Sunday, Larson pounded Hamlin into Joey Logano, nearly wrecked Martin Truex Jr. twice and ran out of fuel on the front row, causing a crash behind him and ending the night for Kyle Busch.
It wasn’t a great look for a driver considered by many to be the most talented racer alive. Regardless, he hasn’t done enough to be considered a true rival in head-to-head scenarios with Hamlin.
They’ve finished 1-2 six times. Hamlin has won all six.
That’s not everything, but when you think Hamlin vs. Larson, when has Larson gotten the better end of it?
Hey, you don’t often think of Navy when you think of Notre Dame rivals, though they’ve played 94 times. That’s because the Midshipmen have only won 13 of those.
That’s 13 more wins than Larson has when it comes to end-of-race showdowns with Hamlin. And wiping him out, along with half the field, isn’t going to change that.
Instead, Larson needs to beat Hamlin. And despite the opinions of many national pundits, and spotters, he needs to do it cleanly.
Let’s go through the gears:
NASCAR should penalize excessive fuel stretching (First gear)
NASCAR penalizes teams two laps and suspends two pit members for wheels falling off due to loose lug nuts.
How’s running out of fuel in front of the field any safer?
And yet, it happened on Sunday as drivers took their final desperate swings only to run out of fuel, including Larson’s mishap and Busch’s resulting crash.
Obviously, it’s a driver’s last shot at a win, but is it fair it ruins the race for others who are in a better situation strategically?
Maybe it’s time NASCAR mulled over penalizing drivers for running out of fuel, say, last-place points?
It would certainly discourage risking it all at the risk of others.
Chase Elliott continues streak while spinning out (Second gear)
It wasn’t exactly a banner day at Nashville for Chase Elliott, who rang up his second straight 18th-place finish and did so while spinning through the infield.
But it wasn’t all bad news for Elliott, who fell from a tie for the points lead with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Larson.
According to NASCAR, Elliott became just the fourth driver ever to register top-20 finishes in each of the first 19 races of the season and the first since Ricky Rudd in 1991.
We doubt Mr. H. will hang a banner in the shop for that, but hey, it’s something!
NASCAR points standings: Joey Logano in, big gap at the cutline (Third gear)
Logano’s win locked him into the playoffs and widened the chasm at the cutline. Alex Bowman is currently on the right side in 16th place, a full 51 points above 17th-place Bubba Wallace.
After Sunday, 11 drivers are locked into the playoffs with seven races left to go in the regular season. That includes a couple of wild-card events, Sunday at the Chicago Street Course and Aug. 24 at Daytona.
Driver |
Wins |
Points |
1. Kyle Larson |
3 |
664 |
2. Denny Hamlin |
3 |
621 |
3. Christopher Bell |
3 |
576 |
4. William Byron |
3 |
570 |
5. Chase Elliott |
1 |
644 |
6. Tyler Reddick |
1 |
611 |
7. Ryan Blaney |
1 |
560 |
8. Brad Keselowski |
1 |
531 |
9. Joey Logano |
1 |
470 |
10. Daniel Suarez |
1 |
383 |
11. Austin Cindric |
1 |
367 |
12. Martin Truex Jr. |
0 |
591 |
13. Ty Gibbs |
0 |
518 |
14. Ross Chastain |
0 |
514 |
15. Chris Buescher |
0 |
504 |
16. Alex Bowman |
0 |
499 |
———————- |
— |
— |
17. Bubba Wallace |
0 |
448 (-51) |
18. Chase Briscoe |
0 |
421 (-78) |
19. Kyle Busch |
0 |
395 (-104) |
20. Josh Berry |
0 |
368 (-131) |
Chicago Street Course trends (Fourth gear)
With just one prior race, it’s a small sample size at the Chicago Street Course where Shane van Gisbergen emerged as the winner last year. Christopher Bell led the most laps with 37 while Hamlin qualified on the pole.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Hamlin, Larson not in a NASCAR rivalry, yet. Elliott matches Rudd.
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post