Kyle Larson’s pit crew had to go under the hood during the Sunday’s race, a playoff driver wrecked another, and the cutoff to the Round of 8 got as crazy as it could.
But above everything that ensued at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval race, Larson stood on top of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and celebrated yet another victory.
“I wouldn’t have believed them, that’s for sure,” Larson said on the thought of winning after his car was losing power in the middle of the race. “I don’t know, I didn’t really feel good early. We were changing some stuff and I noticed my battery going low. I was getting stressed. (I was thinking) man, we aren’t going to get knocked out of the playoffs like this.”
The win for Larson is his seventh of the season with the Cup Series and gives him even more of an advantage going into the next round of the playoffs.
But after watching what transpired between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick, he knows too that he’s just thankful to have moved on.
“The 9 made it through, right,” Larson said on the broadcast. “That was some great perseverance for that team too. I had a pretty good idea (on our race). I knew I was going to have some sketchy moments. I just needed to pick my way through traffic and be patient.”
The drama was aplenty through the track. While Elliott was working his way through the field, Harvick put his car’s nose into the back bumper of the No. 9 team, spinning out the defending champ as part of retaliation for Bristol.
Kevin Harvick takes out defending series champion Chase Elliott.
Payback for what transpired a couple weeks ago at Bristol.
🎥 @NASCARonNBCpic.twitter.com/uLZ8RCfWOv
— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) October 10, 2021
It looked like Elliott’s hopes to repeat as series champion might have been dashed, but the No. 9 team got the car – as mangled as it was – back on the track and competing.
The plan being given on Elliott’s radio was to retaliate with Harvick. Crew Chief Alan Gustafson and Elliott were on the same page where if Harvick was taken out, they’d have clinched themselves into the next round.
In the waning laps of the race, Elliott might have had a chance – but all it took was for him to get his blue NAPA hood into the rearview mirror of Harvick.
Chase Elliott didn't even have to touch him. Just showed up in his rearview mirror.
Kevin Harvick misses the turn and wrecks. His day is done. #BofAROVAL #NASCARPlayoffs
🎥 @NASCAR pic.twitter.com/T2em62O49p
— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) October 10, 2021
Elliott offered some parting words to his current rival in the sport, but kept it short and sweet.
“As far as Kevin Harvick goes, I just want to wish him a happy offseason and merry Christmas,” Elliott said on the NBC broadcast.
He’ll be moving on to the next round for another consecutive season, along with seven others that will be gunning along with.
Larson holds a 42-point lead on the cutoff while all other drivers are within 16 points of it.
NASCAR will return to the track on Sunday, October 17 when they head to Texas Motor Speedway for the first race of the semifinal round.
| 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Grid | ||||||
| Prior to Round of 8 – Next Race Sunday @ Texas 1pm CT NBC |
||||||
| Position | Driver | Wins | PP | Points | Cutoff | |
| 1 | Kyle Larson | 7 | 65 | 4065 | +42 | |
| 2 | Denny Hamlin | 2 | 30 | 4030 | +7 | |
| 3 | Martin Truex Jr. | 4 | 29 | 4029 | +6 | |
| 4 | Ryan Blaney | 3 | 24 | 4024 | +1 | |
| Playoff Cutoff | ||||||
| 5 | Kyle Busch | 2 | 23 | 4023 | -1 | |
| 6 | Chase Elliott | 2 | 22 | 4022 | -2 | |
| 7 | Joey Logano | 1 | 13 | 4013 | -11 | |
| 8 | Brad Keselowski | 1 | 8 | 4008 | -16 | |
NASCAR Results
The Roval
1. Kyle Larson
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Chris Buescher
4. Kyle Busch
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Matt DiBenedetto
7. Joey Logano
8. Christopher Bell
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Alex Bowman
11. William Byron
12. Chase Elliott
13. Daniel Suarez
14. Bubba Wallace
15. Austin Dillon
16. Michael McDowell
17. Erik Jones
18. Cole Custer
19. Ryan Preece
20. Brad Keselowski
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
22. Chase Briscoe
23. Ross Chastain
24. Aric Almirola
25. Kurt Busch
26. Anthony Alfredo
27. Joey Hand
28. Josh Bilicki
29. Martin Truex Jr
30. Quin Houff
31. Scott Heckert
32. Timmy Hill
33. Kevin Harvick
34. Garrett Smithley
35. Corey LaJoie
36. Cody Ware
37. Justin Haley
38. AJ Allmendinger
39. Ryan Newman
