Things looked to be a breeze or almost in the bag as the NASCAR Cup Series went to the Irish Hills in Michigan this past weekend. In the heat of a regular season battle, Kyle Larson was looking for a clean weekend. Mother Nature had other ideas, as the final 150 laps were pushed to Monday. Larson for one is a driver that now probably would like to go back to Sunday. Larson had a great car on Sunday. He led the first 34 laps of the race and certainly looked like he was going to contend for his fourth career Michigan Win. All he had to do was avoid any slip-ups, but that quickly changed during Stage Two.
Larson found himself in a crazy battle on a restart, and it ended up with a multi-car wreck on the front stretch coming off of turn four. It was no one’s fault but his actually as Larson just lost control of his car in front of the pack, and collected a lot of good race cars. His slip-up not only cost him the points but it had a major effect on some of the playoff drivers.
The No. 5 goes around and collects multiple cars! pic.twitter.com/lEDsycXJZr
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 19, 2024
As some will say it appears Larson ran out of talent off of turn four. Truthfully it is hard to say what happened to the No. 5 car. Larson spoke about what happened with Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass after getting checked and released from the infield care center. He cited a miscalculation with aero in that spot, which is likely what happened.
“I guess I wouldn’t call it unexpected, you know how weird the air gets over there,” Larson said. “I just put myself in a weird aero spot.”
Kyle Larson said he put himself in a weird aero spot and that a spin in that situation isn't necessarily unexpected because of the way the cars react. pic.twitter.com/6iv3A7ud6n
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 19, 2024
Slip Up Allows Others to Take Advantage
While Larson was busy having his trouble, the other three drivers he was fighting for the regular season crown took advantage of his issues. Denny Hamlin had his issues during the FireKeepers Casino 400. Especially after spinning early in the race in a very similar spot off of turn four. He was able to rally from those issues to a top-10 finish. As for Chase Elliott, Larson’s teammate he certainly looked like he had a car that could compete for the win. His chances disappeared late during the final green flag run. A rough final restart derailed a top-five car for Elliott and he ended the race in 15th.
That takes us to who made up the most ground on Larson. That honor goes to Tyler Reddick, who not only took over the points lead but scored his second win of the 2024 season. That’s right Reddick’s No. 45 went to victory lane at Michigan. He jumped to P1 in the regular season standings, 10 points ahead of Elliott, and Hamlin jumped to third, as Larson slipped to fourth after only scoring three points for his DNF finish in 34th.
Larson Isn’t Done Yet, but Daytona Doesn’t Help the Cause
Larson sits 32 points back of Reddick, with a daunting task ahead. Daytona is next on the schedule, and it is no secret Larson struggles at the Superspeedways. It’s the one type of track he has yet to win at in his NASCAR Cup career. Who’s at an advantage then, well Reddick, Hamlin, and Elliott have all performed at a high level in the draft. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an unpredictable race, and who knows, maybe Larson will finally snap his superspeedway drought. He cannot afford another slip-up and that could happen quickly, especially at Daytona.
All four drivers still in this fight are going to be interesting to watch over these last two weeks of the regular season. One thing is for sure, Larson is in a vulnerable spot, that he hasn’t shown to be in much this season overall. Time will tell, but Reddick certainly appears to have the advantage at the right time for 23XI Racing and Toyota.
