Despite weak results, NASCAR points leader Kyle Larson views Talladega as a chance to rebound

TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — Points leader Kyle Larson needs to recover from a major stumble in the NASCAR Chase, and Talladega Superspeedway seems an unlikely rebound spot for the defending Cup Series champion.

The mammoth 2.66-mile oval and its massive crashes have plagued Larson throughout his career. A last-place finish in the April 26 race at Talladega lowered his average finish there to 22nd over 23 starts, second-worst on the circuit behind Iowa Speedway (where he has only three starts).

But as Larson clings to a five-point lead over Christopher Bell with three races remaining, 500 miles of white-knuckle racing Sunday at the longest and most treacherous track in NASCAR somehow seems enticing.

“As bad as my results are here, I still look at it as an opportunity, for sure, to get out here and have a shot to win,” Larson said Saturday before qualifying. “I feel like we all know every single car in the field, maybe aside from a couple, have a shot to win if things go a certain way. So yeah, I look at it as an opportunity. We’ve been up front at the end of the races. I’m more confident here than I am at Phoenix.”

A 34th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway brought an abrupt halt to Larson’s dream start to the Chase, the 10-race closing stretch that determines the champion.

The Hendrick Motorsports star had built a comfortable 49-point margin with a Chase-record average finish of 2.83 through the first six races, but five drivers are within 44 points after Phoenix: Bell, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano. Phoenix winner Tyler Reddick is also in striking distance at 56 points behind.

The prospects for Larson earning his third title seem considerably dimmer heading into one of NASCAR’s three drafting superspeedways — where drivers run inches apart at 200 mph, and a slight bobble can trigger a large pileup.

At Atlanta, Daytona and Talladega, Larson has a series-worst average finish of 30.6. In 58 career starts on drafting tracks, Larson has never won — the longest superspeedway drought among active drivers.

To snap the skid Sunday, he will need the assistance of drafting partners to push his No. 5 Chevrolet to the front. Larson believes that help will come from his three teammates and the other 16 Chevy drivers in the 40-car field.

“Just having the awareness of where we’re at in our situation,” said Larson, the only Chevy driver with a realistic shot at the championship. “I’m not asking for people to go out of their way or move over or anything like that. I think just the awareness is always good, which I feel like there’s been that throughout the Chase already. It’s been going on for a handful of weeks where I feel like I’ve been cut a lot of breaks from other Chevy cars, which has been much appreciated.

“But on the Talladega side of things, it’s always easy to have a plan, but it’s always difficult to replicate your plan on the racetrack.”

Bell, Hamlin and Briscoe race Toyotas for Joe Gibbs Racing, which could make it trickier to show drafting deference to a teammate while racing for the title.

“You’re probably not going to cut each other a break,” Briscoe said. “I feel like this place is super hard just to have a plan and have that plan actually come together.”

Talladega is undeniably the wild card of the Chase. The track has featured three consecutive last-lap passes for the win, and last fall’s race produced the most lead changes (77) and leaders (27) in more than 15 years.

“The best way we can help him is to be competitive and be in the mix,” two-time Talladega winner Chase Elliott said of Larson, his Hendrick teammate. “Because as soon as you have a bad day, the strength in numbers slowly dissipates, and then you could potentially leave him on an island of not having any help at the end of the race. Being in position to have a shot to win is ultimately the best way to help him.”

Kyle Busch remembered

In removing his name from Most Popular Driver Award balloting out of respect for the late Kyle Busch, Elliott said he was inspired by his father.

Bill Elliott won the award a record 16 times but bowed out of consideration in 2001 to allow his fans to vote for Dale Earnhardt after the seven-time champion was killed in a Daytona 500 crash.

“I just always thought that was a really cool and admirable nod to one of his biggest rivals,” Chase Elliott said. “I certainly thought about that some and also about what Kyle meant to my career and just the relationship we had. And just how much noise I think our fans have made for him. He certainly embraced that villain role, and maybe people totally didn’t like him, but they sure did make a lot of noise for him.”

Carson Hocevar, whose popularity has soared since his first career victory at Talladega six months ago, has been encouraging his fans to vote for Busch, who died in May from sepsis caused by severe pneumonia.

“Kyle was the most popular driver at one point,” Hocevar said. “A driver that was probably super hated and not appreciated enough. He’s super appreciated now, and it just feels right.”

Odds and ends

Blaney, a three-time Talladega winner, is a +800 favorite Sunday, followed by Penske teammate Logano (+1100), also a three-time winner. … Brad Keselowski (+1400) leads active drivers with six wins at Talladega. He has three runner-up finishes since his last victory there in April 2021. … It’s been six years since the Talladega winner also led the most laps in the race.

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