NASCAR: The biggest winner of the Indy mayhem
By Asher Fair
Several drivers made out quite well from the end of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, one even more so than others.
The end of the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is one that will continue to be talked about as time marches on, and for good reason.
On the overtime restart, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin led ahead of Stewart-Haas Racing rookie Chase Briscoe. Briscoe was forced wide and shortcut turns one and two, taking the lead in the process. But knowing what he had done, he gave the lead back to Hamlin.
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That didn’t stop NASCAR from penalizing him, effectively taking him out of the running for the win. The one problem? He wasn’t informed.
A few turns later, he made contact with Hamlin, sending the #11 Toyota spinning.
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This allowed the third place #16 Chevrolet of Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger to inherit the lead, and Allmendinger went on to secure his second career Cup Series victory and first since he won at Watkins Glen International back in 2014.
Because he runs full-time in the Xfinity Series and does not compete for Cup Series points, his win did not count toward locking himself into the Cup Series playoffs. So throughout all of the mayhem, Hamlin actually clinched a playoff spot based on where he sits in the point standings.
In addition to Allmedinger and Hamlin, the other big winners were Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola. Those two race winners technically could have dropped out of the playoff picture, but because Allmendinger didn’t secure a playoff spot, they are now locked in.
But there is one driver who proved to be the biggest winner of all, and that is Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson.
Larson finished the race in third place and overtook Hamlin for the lead of the point standings. They entered the race tied, and Hamlin hadn’t been lower than a first place tie since after the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway back in February when Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon had the lead.
Had Hamlin won the race, or even finished in second place, instead of finishing in 23rd where he finished, he would be the leader ahead of Larson. Instead, Larson leads by 22 points (953-931) with two regular season races remaining.
This is huge because of the bonus playoff points awarded to the regular season champion. Larson already leads the series with 37: 25 from his series-high five race wins and 12 from his series-high 12 stage wins. Nobody else has more than 20. The regular season champion is awarded an extra 15, while the runner-up is awarded 10.
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Can Larson hang on to his lead over the course of the regular season’s final two races at Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway, or will Hamlin reclaim it to secure five much-needed extra playoff points?