WEEKEND HOT LAPS: Larson on Top; Is Hamlin Still Title Worthy?
LARSON TAKING CHARGE
The opening two rounds of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs have been a little odd. Three of the six races so far have been won by non-Playoff drivers: Chris Buescher at Watkins Glen, Ross Chastain at Kansas, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at Talladega. One championship driver took a pair of wins with Kyle Larson at Bristol and last week at The Roval and the Hendrick Motorsports driver has now become the prohibitive favorite to win the crown.
It took a while for someone to grab control of the situation and Larson has done it. Not only did he score victories at Bristol and The Roval, but he did also so in dominating fashion.
Now he comes to Las Vegas on the heels of his Charlotte ROVAL win and with victories in the last two races held at the 1.5-mile track. He also swept the first two stages at Vegas in the spring, so it’s no wonder confidence is flowing from the 5 team.
“It’s been challenging, but with the experience that we have as a team, we’re able to stay locked in and focused,” Larson said. “We’re able to overcome those challenging races a little more stress-free. We know we’re fast. We know we can control things we can control, but we got to keep running up front and keep executing.”
There have been times this year when lack of execution and bad luck have teamed up to derail Larson’s plans as evident in his five DNFs to go along with six trips to Victory Lane. No doubt variables still exist before Larson’s name gets etched on this year’s Bill France Cup.
But as the Playoff field whittles further and further down, Larson’s chances for a second title appear to be getting larger.
He can get a lot of the heavy lifting out of the way with his seventh win of the season Sunday in Las Vegas.
"I would love to go there and win,” he said after his Charlotte victory. “And kind of know that you’re racing for a championship. The two times that I’ve gotten to be in the Final Four we’ve won the opening race. Would love to do that next week, but obviously really, really tough."
HAMLIN STILL CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER?
Denny Hamlin can revel in surviving and advancing through the beginning of the Playoffs and advancing to the Round of Eight. But it wasn’t easy for the Joe Gibbs Racing driver who dodged his way through what seemed like six races of adversity, some out of his control and a little self-induced.
If Hamlin is going to make a run for his elusive first Cup title, he’s going to have to raise the performance level a great deal that in reality has been lacking since early summer. Hamlin’s last win came at Dover in late April. He rattled off six straight top-five finishes after that win and looked very strong until his summer of discontent began.
A blown engine and subsequent 38th place finish at Sonoma in June sent Hamlin on a string of races that saw only four more top-fives the remainder of the regular season. The mediocrity seemed to follow him into the Playoffs, and he was successful in getting through the first two rounds.
Hamlin has pointed to this round as a much more straightforward trio of tracks after the first half dozen Playoff races including superspeedways, a traditional road course, and The Roval.
“It’s such a tough spot to be in kind of up like we were because the only thing that really can hurt you is a really detrimental day so you can’t be as aggressive as you really want to but you can’t lose a bunch of track position either,” Hamlin said about the approach so far in the Playoffs.
After playing a little preventive defense in the opening rounds, Hamlin sees the next three leading to a possible berth in the Championship Four differently.
“Now these tracks coming up, we race,” Hamlin said.
For the sake of Hamlin’s championship aspirations, he’d better.
PICKS TO CLICK
The least shocking news of the week is who the favorite is for Sunday’s South Point 400. Kyle Larson is by far the man to beat according to the oddsmakers and comes into the weekend at +300 to take his third straight Las Vegas victory. One of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates is next in line with William Byron taking the number two position. However, Byron’s odds to win are more than double Larson’s at +750, showing once again how much Vegas favorites the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet.
From there, only three other drivers are below four-digit odds with Christopher Bell (+800), Denny Hamlin (+850), and Tyler Reddick (+900) next in line.
It’s interesting Joey Logano, who has a new life as a Playoff driver leads the next group of drivers at +1000 to win, just ahead of Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney (+1100). Chase Elliott is the longest shot among Playoff drivers at +1200.
If you’re looking for a long shot that would bring an ironic twist to Sunday’s Victory Lane celebration Alex Bowman is at +2800 to win Sunday’s race.
Saturday’s Xfinity Series race has an intriguing dynamic in the odds department with Aric Almirola, not in the Driver Championship but still very much alive for Joe Gibbs Racing’s quest for the Owners Championship, the favorite at +370. Almirola’s odds aren’t as far away from the pack as Larson’s on the Cup side with defending series champ Cole Custer next at +400. Chandler Smith (+500), Justin Allgaier (+600), and Sam Mayer (+850) round out the top five.
SHORT TRACK ATTACK
There is a wide variety of action on the short tracks coast to coast this October weekend. Oxford Plains Speedway hosts the PASS 400 on Saturday and Sunday, both days are available to watch on Racing America PPV. Montgomery Motor Speedway in Alabama has the Show Me the Money Series on Saturday night, which is available to watch on Racing America at no additional cost to subscribers.
North Wilkesboro Speedway has a number of divisions on its weekend schedule including the Whelen Modified Tour, SMART Modified Tour, and the season finale for both the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Cars and Pro Late Models.
Wisconsin’s Dells Raceway Park will present the Falloween 150 on Saturday, the final race of the Alive for Five Series. Nearly 40 Super Late Models are on the entry list for the race at the 1/3-mile paved track.
Pete Pistone is a veteran motorsports and general sports reporter/journalist with nearly 30 years experience. During his career he has worked for media outlets such as WGN Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Television (CLTV), CBS Sports, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008 and co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday at 7 am ET. He is also the host of “Fantasy Racing Preview,” a weekend show focusing on NASCAR gambling and fantasy racing, which is part of the channel’s NASCAR Cup Series pre-race programming. Additionally, Pistone is a member of the SiriusXM College Sports team as an on-air personality and contributor on Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372). He is one of the hosts of “Big Ten Today” and can also be heard on “Big Ten Whip Around,” a weekly hour-long program spotlighting a variety of sports around the conference. Pistone is also the host of several specials as well as providing a range of digital content for both the NASCAR and Big Ten channels. A Chicago native, Pistone resides in the northern suburbs of the city with his wife and daughter.