The NASCAR Cup Series standings are splitting right down the middle as The Chase presented by Mobil 1 approaches its midpoint at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson has pushed past Denny Hamlin to take over the points lead, putting the two veteran rivals firmly at the head of the championship hunt four races into the 10-race postseason. Sunday's South Point 400 covers a distance of 400.5 miles across 267 laps on the 1.5-mile Nevada track, with stages breaking down at 80, 165, and 267 laps for a massive total race purse of $11,233,037.
Heading into the weekend, the top four drivers in the standings are tightly packed within a single race's worth of points. Kyle Larson leads the charge, with Denny Hamlin sitting 26 points back, Christopher Bell 50 points behind Larson, and Joey Logano 67 points behind the leader. Larson arrives in the desert riding incredible momentum after dominating at Kansas Speedway, where the No. 5 team swept the maximum 76 available points by taking the race win, both stage wins, and the Xfinity Fastest Lap. That performance builds on a brilliant start to The Chase that already features two wins, one runner-up result, and a fifth-place finish.
"I would love to continue to put together weekends like we have where we gain a lot of points, just to stretch out (so) that way, if we do have a blowout race, you can not fall down the order a lot," Kyle Larson said Saturday. "But yeah, I mean that’s not guaranteed. So yeah, I mean that’s really not on my mind when I’m out there. I’m just kind of treating it as just trying to get a good practice, qualify well, get a good first stage, get a good second stage and a good third stage and then you look at the points afterwards."
Denny Hamlin started The Chase as the No. 1 seed and remains a massive threat, particularly as the winner of each of the last two races in the desert. Yet, for the first time since June, he is chasing the top spot, and his four Chase races have yielded only one top-five finish. That output will need to climb if he wants to match Larson's relentless average pace of 59.25 points per race. Behind the leading quartet, drivers like Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, and Tyler Reddick sit 91, 94, and 111 points behind Larson respectively, watching valuable time slip away as the championship frontrunners try to slam the door on the rest of the field.
"We’ve got to win some," Ty Gibbs said. "I gonna bet on myself. We’re gonna do it this weekend."
Denny Hamlin also brings a remarkable streak to the table, entering Las Vegas with eight consecutive top-five finishes on 1.5-mile tracks—a run that ties him with Jimmie Johnson for the seventh-longest all-time on intermediate ovals. Despite the growing gaps, Kyle Larson refuses to write off the rest of the contenders just yet, knowing how quickly a race can turn with so many laps, restarts, and points still on the table.
Fans can tune in to watch the action unfold at 5:30 p.m. ET via USA Network, HBO Max, PRN Radio, or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
