Despite Lackluster Run, Kyle Larson Retains Points Lead with Seventh-Place Finish
4 months agoKyle Larson had a mediocre run by his standards at Richmond, but still garnered a seventh-place finish to retain a five-point lead over Tyler Reddick and a six-point lead over Chase Elliott but he did lose points to both of them. Larson still finished best amongst the Hendrick drivers although none of them ran very well, but he only ranked 22nd in speed and Denny Hamlin overtook him for the lead in speed percentile this year and significantly increased his lead in laps led. Perhaps Larson was more focused on winning the Knoxville Nationals (which he did) and it slightly distracted him from the Richmond race, but he should still be favored for the regular-season championship since he regularly outruns Reddick and Elliott even though those two drivers have been more consistent this year.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference