Kyle Larson Dominates The Roval For His 6th Win Of The Season

The Round of 12 came to an for the NASCAR Playoffs at the Charlotte Roval, and while there was much drama about who was going to get the final transfer spot to make the Round of 8, there was no doubt up front as Kyle Larson left no doubt by winning his 6th race of the season in dominating fashion.

All Larson had to do heading into this race was keep his nose clean and he would’ve made the next round no matter what, in fact, he already clinched a spot into the Round of 8 by the end of stage 2, but by then the 2021 champion had hit another gear, and once he completed his final pit stop he was in a different zip code compared to the rest of the field as only Christopher Bell could see him, but he was a distant 2 seconds back with no hope to challenge him.

This race will be remembered for 2 separate reasons, the first one being the chaotic day involving Tyler Reddick. The driver of the 45 Toyota had a good start to the day by staying out to win stage 1, but it forced him to start in the back for stage 2, and that’s where all hell broke loose. On lap 32 heading into the newly configured hairpin turn 7, Reddick wheel hopped into his boss Denny Hamlin, and bent the toe link in the right rear. The next 30 laps turned into crew chief Billy Scott and the 45 crew spending countless time on pit road to make improvements on the car to get it back to form, but the key move didn’t come until the lap 82 caution when Billy Scott got Reddick to come down to pit road for fresh tires. The move turned out to be a game changer as Reddick was able to have a clear advantage over the middle of the pack as he gained 15 positions on the final run to advance into the round of 8. If Reddick wins the championship this year, this is the moment he won it.

The 2nd way this race will likely be remembered is for the penalty levied on Alex Bowman in the post-race for failing to meet the required weight for the car. As things stand right now, Joey Logano is back in the playoffs but if the appeals process favors Alex Bowman, things could go back to what they were when the checkered flag waved rendering all of this pointless, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Now with the field down to 8 teams, the gloves are officially off with the races taking place at Las Vegas and Homestead, expect the best racing we’ve seen all season, and you never know what chaos Martinsville can bring as well even with the racing being suboptimal at best on the short tracks this year. The only thing that is guaranteed is that you better hold on to your butts because the next 3 weeks is going to be a bumpy ride.

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