NASCAR: Kyle Larson wasn’t the big winner at Watkins Glen
By Asher Fair
Kyle Larson won Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International, but he wasn’t the biggest winner of the race weekend.
After an aggressive move on the final restart to take the lead away from teammate and two-time Watkins Glen International winner Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson became a two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at the track himself, winning at the historic venue for the second straight season.
Sunday afternoon’s Go Bowling at The Glen win was Larson’s second win of the 2022 season, but because of where he sat in the point standings among single-race winners entering the race, he had already locked himself into the playoffs.
And even if he hadn’t, Sunday’s race — whether he won it or not — would have locked him in.
Larson now sits in second place in the standings, trailing only Elliott, who wrapped up the regular season championship on Sunday with a fourth place finish.
But despite winning Sunday’s race, Larson wasn’t the driver who walked away from Watkins Glen International as the biggest winner.
There is just one race remaining on the regular season schedule, that being this Saturday evening’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
There have been 15 different winners so far this season, meaning that with just one race remaining on the regular season schedule, we can officially say that there will not be more winners than playoff spots (16).
By winning on Sunday, Larson eliminated the possibility of the regular season having 17 winners, and there are three drivers who are particularly grateful for that: 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr.
Busch has been sidelined for the last five races after his qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway left him experiencing concussion-like symptoms, and he announced before this past Sunday’s race that he would be out for the remainder of the regular season.
He made this announcement as the lowest ranking single-race winner in the point standings, guaranteeing that he would finish behind the other 14 winners (more specifically, the other seven single-race winners).
Had there been two more new winners in the regular season’s final two races, and had both drivers finished ahead of Busch in the regular season point standings, Busch would have been eliminated.
Now there can be one at most, solidifying Busch’s spot in the field of 16. He hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2012.
As for Blaney, he currently holds the 16th and final playoff spot due to the strength of his point total. He sits 25 points ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., the only other non-winner who can possibly slide into the spot via points.
Had a new winner emerged, Blaney and Truex both would have lost their chance to qualify for the playoffs on points, despite sitting in third and sixth place in the standings, respectively.
So even by finishing Sunday’s race in 23rd (Truex) and 24th (Blaney), because Larson won, they can walk away from the weekend feeling a lot better than they would have by finishing in second and third behind a 16th new winner.
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With Busch locked in, who will get the final playoff spot? Will it go to Blaney or Truex on points? Will either one of them win the regular season finale to lock it up? Or will we see a 16th different winner who is currently in a true must-win situation secure it?
Tune in to NBC at 7:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 27 for the live broadcast of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 from Daytona International Speedway to find out. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now!