Chase update: Larson not putting a hand on the Cup Series championship yet

Kyle Larson could be within a week of his third NASCAR Cup Series championship.

But don’t tell the Hendrick Motorsports driver that.

“There are still two races,” Larson said Sunday night. “It’s so easy to look at it and be like, ‘Oh, the [No.] 5’s got it.’ But we could go to Martinsville, there could be a stack up in Turn 3 on the first lap, and I could cave in the radiator and be done. I’m just saying there is still a lot of racing left, and so much in the Chase. All you guys in here are like, ‘Oh, this person is out. That person is out. This person has it locked up.’ And then they win, or something happens and boom, the picture completely changes.

“So, I’m not getting ahead of myself at all. I’m not going to let you guys get me ahead of myself either.”

Larson leads his nearest rival, Denny Hamlin, by 73 points after winning his third of eight Chase races on Sunday. The magic number to clinch the championship at Martinsville Speedway is 77 points. A driver can earn a maximum of 76 points in a race.

The knockout blow could have come from the most unlikely place, with Larson taking his first superspeedway win at Talladega. But he was already looking at a solid day, having earned points in both stages and still running in the main pack on the final lap.

Of the seven drivers who entered the weekend within a race of each other, only Larson and Hamlin were still on the track for the overtime finish. Larson won, and Hamlin, who is back to second in the points, finished eighth.

1. Kyle Larson

2. Denny Hamlin – 73

3. Christopher Bell – 74

4. Chase Briscoe – 79

5. Joey Logano – 100

6. Ryan Blaney – 107

7. Tyler Reddick – 126

8. Austin Cindric – 183

9. Ty Gibbs – 183

10. Carson Hocevar – 198

11. William Byron – 214

12. Chase Elliott – 218

13. Bubba Wallace – 218

14. Daniel Suarez – 240

15. Ryan Preece – 249

16. Chris Buescher – 255

Martinsville Speedway is next on the circuit as the penultimate race in the Chase. Ryan Blaney is the defending race winner.