NASCAR playoffs round of 8 begins
LAS VEGAS >> There has been a NASCAR reset, on the track at least, with the third round of the playoffs beginning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a new Cup champion set to be crowned after four races.
Kyle Larson was knocked out of contention for consecutive championships after being eliminated at Charlotte, nosed out by two points by Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing — a team now accused of race manipulation and fined $300,000 by NASCAR over the last week.
The back and forth of penalties, suspensions and accusations between NASCAR and Stewart-Haas Racing, which fields a Ford for Kevin Harvick, one of the most outspoken critics of its new Next Gen car, has team co-owner Tony Stewart too furious to even comment. Stewart even says he wouldn't go to another NASCAR race if he doesn't have sponsorship commitments.
But Larson — the hottest driver in the country last year — also was edged out of the playoffs by his own Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron.
NASCAR had missed Bryon intentionally spin Denny Hamlin under caution and levied punishment two days later. But an appeals panel ruled NASCAR could only fine Byron and not essentially change the score post-race by deducting points, restoring 25 playoff points for Byron and pushing him into the playoffs.
The favorite to succeed Larson? Maybe Chase Elliott, who was headed to what would have been a career-high sixth win of the season at Charlotte until a late caution and overtime. NASCAR's four-time most popular driver won the title in 2020, and Larson's win last season made it two straight Cup championships for Rick Hendrick.
Christopher Bell just might be the dark horse to pick at the betting window — the round opens in Las Vegas, after all. Listed as an 8-1 favorite by FanDuel Sportsbook for the title, Bell was the best driver of the first round with an average finish of fourth in the first three races.
Back-to-back poor finishes to open the second round put the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on the verge of elimination, but when the late cautions at Charlotte flipped the race, Bell pounced and earned the victory and the automatic berth into the third round.
“This whole last two weeks, I had been extremely deflated, just kind of down in the dumps,” Bell said after his Charlotte win. “Now I can promise you I'm as excited as ever heading into these next three races.”