That said, the numbers tell a brutal story. Kyle Larson entered the Phoenix Raceway weekend holding a 49-point lead ahead of Denny Hamlin, but the points leader left Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Chase race with zero stage points and an unofficial 34th-place finish.
Unfortunately, the warning signs were there from the very start. The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver struggled through both Saturday practice and qualifying sessions, leaving him to start the Freeway Insurance 500 buried back in 22nd place on the grid.
Things did not improve once the green flag waved. The team rolled the dice with a two-tire stop late in Stage 1, but the machine drifted outside the top 10 before the checkered flag, dropping right back to 22nd after 60 laps.
Stage 2 brought even more misery for the No. 5 crew. Larson continued bleeding positions and eventually fell a lap down before catching a break with a wave around during a Lap 158 caution when all lead-lap cars pitted, though he still ended the stage mired in 27th place.
Then came the final blow with 28 laps to go. Entering Turn 1 at the 1-mile oval, a tire went down on the No. 5, causing it to shoot directly up the race track and slam violently into the outside retaining wall.
The impact dealt significant enough damage to force the car behind the wall and prematurely end the afternoon. Naturally, his championship rivals were quick to capitalize on the disaster.
Joey Logano swept the opening stages to collect a vital 20 points, while Christopher Bell grabbed 16. Chase Briscoe tallied 15 points off the back of winning the last two Cup races, and both Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin each secured 12 stage points.
