The race for the regular season championship is currently only three points between Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, and it’s only getting hotter.
When Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are included, the top four NASCAR drivers are separated by just 20 points. One of the most fiercely contested regular seasons in memory is expected to occur this year.
The winner of the five races will receive 15 bonus points for the playoffs. If things don’t go as planned, it can get you through a few rounds. It’s a good thing that Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, his teammate, are fighting closely. That is, at least, according to Larson.
Larson responded to Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, saying, “No, I mean I think I’ve been getting that question I feel like a lot the last couple of months and no, I feel like our teams work, still all four teams work really well together.”
“All of the drivers’ teammates continue to have excellent communication in meetings, asking each other insightful questions and receiving thoughtful responses that support one another.
Thus, I believe it’s critical when attempting to expand as a company, and I feel like Hendrick Motorsports has done a great job of that over my three and a half seasons there, at the very least.
“I think it’s nice that Chase and William are competing for a regular season championship, and William is really not too far out of it either. It indicates, in my opinion, that not only are our teams performing well, but Denny and Reddick are also there.
I’m not sure when it was this tight amongst four or five teams, but it’s really tight at the top. Makes you, well, more focused.
It’s unfortunate that we’ve been a little uneven lately with some DNFs and other things, but perhaps we can wrap off the regular season with some success. To receive those 15 bonus points would be excellent.
Kyle Larson hasn’t always performed well. He brought that up to Pockrass during their talk, and it’s a major factor in the closeness of this fight.
In addition, Larson has missed out on a number of points because he was not present at the Coca-Cola 600. Over the past three weeks, Chase Elliott and Larson have alternated at the top.
A few stage victories or a poor run might be the difference. William Byron is back from Elliott by 57 points. Larson’s mention of Byron is great. But in the next five races, he needs four drivers to make a mistake. He would rather for them all to make a few mistakes. I don’t see that occurring at this time; there are four horses in the race.
Really, Larson has only made two significant errors in the last five or six weeks: Iowa and Chicago. He finished P34 and P39 in both races, winning the pole in both.
Elliott and the others caught up in this championship race of the regular season in this manner. These drivers will be monitoring one another as the season progresses. One could argue that Reddick is the more skilled player. When it’s all said and done, will he catch up to the Hendrick team?
