NASCAR has a new points leader after Bristol night race
Entering the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson sat in ninth place in the point standings, placing him in somewhat of a precarious position in terms of advancing to the round of 12.
Larson started the playoffs with a series-high 40 playoff points thanks to his series-high four regular season wins, series-high (tied) 10 regular season stage wins, and runner-up finish in regular season points, but a crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway followed by a lackluster race at Watkins Glen International cost him that lead.
But the next highest driver in playoff points was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell with 32. Even had Bell won Saturday night’s round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as its first two stages, he only would have collected seven more playoff points, putting him at 39 and still behind Larson.
So all Larson needed to do to retake the points lead ahead of the round of 12 was advance.
All he did was lead 462 of the 500 laps of the Bass Pro Shops Night Race around the four-turn, 0.533-mile (0.858-kilometer) high-banked Bristol, Tennesse oval.
