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Kyle Larson Enters Playoffs As Co-Points Leader
Kyle Larson had yet another sloppy drive at Daytona. Although he finished sixth and didn't crash out himself, he arguably triggered the Big One on lap 28 as a bump-draft of Bubba Wallace went awry and sent him into Kyle Busch. Larson came out unscathed and used pit strategy in Stage 3 to break into the top five. With Larson and his teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron still in the race, they worked together to ensure their teammate Alex Bowman would lock himself into the playoffs and Larson arguably roughed up both Erik Jones and Ryan Preece to increase the probability of that, which panned out nicely for Hendrick Motorsports after Ryan Blaney won the race. While such team tactics may be loathsome, the win-and-in playoff system incentivizes such behavior. Larson starts the playoffs tied with Byron in points, but he's been so sloppy lately that he probably isn't the playoff favorite.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference
