Kyle Larson Retains Points Lead Despite Stage 2 Crash
5 months agoAlthough Kyle Larson won the pole for yesterday's Grant Park 165 in Chicago, he lost the lead to Ty Gibbs in the first corner and failed to lead any laps. However, he did run in the top five for the entire first 33 laps and was catching Gibbs for second when he overshot the corner and crashed into the Turn 6 tire barrier en route to a 39th-place finish. Larson still retained the regular season points lead over his teammate, Chase Elliott, by 11 points after Daniel Suárez spun Elliott on the last lap of the race. Larson seems to frequently alternate between brilliant drives and embarrassing mistakes, but he is simply responding to the incentives of a win-and-in championship format, which rewards risk-taking more than NASCAR's previous points systems did. Despite his errors, he remains the fastest driver in the series and the championship favorite.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference