With thunderstorms in Indianapolis delaying the Indy 500 and preventing Kyle Larson from starting last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the race for the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season championship took a new twist.
Unable to score points at Charlotte, Larson dropped from first to third in the series standings, six points behind new leader Denny Hamlin, who vaulted to the top with a fifth-place run in the rain-shortened Coke 600.
Hamlin’s teammate, Martin Truex Jr., remained second in the standings, five points back.
With Christopher Bell winning his second race of the season on Sunday, four drivers have combined to win 10 of the first 14 races this year—Hamlin and William Byron with three each and Bell and Larson with two each.
With 12 races left before the cutoff for the postseason, the scramble is on for the final eight Playoff positions.
If recent history is any indication, there should be plenty of opportunity available in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Joey Logano won the 2022 debut Cup race at the 1.25-mile oval. In his first year with Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch triumphed from the pole in 2023.
Coincidentally, those two drivers are straddling the current Playoff bubble, with Busch 14th in the standings (15th on the Playoff grid) and Logano 17th in the standings and two spots out of the Playoffs.
Busch was runner-up to Logano in 2022. Logano finished third behind Busch and Hamlin last year.
Busch and Logano can improve on what has so far been disappointing, winless seasons, provided they excel in time trials and maintain a presence at or near the front of the field at the Madison, Illinois, track.
Hamlin plans to be there, too, protecting his newfound series lead.
“This is going to be a track position race,” Hamlin asserted. “From what we’ve seen with this car at this track, you’re going to have to qualify well and have a really good day on pit road to stay up front.
“I feel like it’s a good track for us. We were really strong last year and stayed in the top five all day. It’s just going to be super important to unload strong and get a good qualifying spot and a good pit stall to have a shot on Sunday.”
Source: Reid Spencer | NASCAR Wire Service
