Kyle Larson secured a crucial result in the context of the NASCAR playoffs at Talladega – a track where he has struggled historically.
Avoiding a chaotic 28-car pileup with five laps to go, the American driver held on to match his best ever result at the track.
The fourth place helped to lift him back up into the top three of the NASCAR standings, having fallen to fourth from the championship lead last weekend.
It was an adequate recovery for a man who languished in 26th after suffering a puncture at Kansas one week ago.
Kyle Larson puts result down to ‘luck’ at Talladega
Larson has endured a bit of a miserable time at Talladega, and it was the only race left this season that he hadn’t ever finished in the top two of during his careeer.
A bad result would’ve put him in trouble, with drivers behind looming close and eager to knock him out of the Round of 12.
Speaking to NBC Sports, he put his result down to one factor after waiting so long to finally enjoy some success.
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“Second top five of my career in general on superspeedway, so yeah, I’ll take that. It’s really cool. There’s a lot of luck that plays into just finishing these races.
“I’m not going to blame my career on bad luck, because that’s not the case when we finish as bad as often as we do at these (tracks). But I feel we do a great job, and today just showed that.”
Why Larson is best placed for a championship charge
At each of the final five races, Larson has performed very well at over the course of the last three years – which should worry his rivals.
He also knows what it takes to win a championship now, and has the hunger to repeat a feat he last achieved three years ago now.
He trails William Byron by 22 points with one race of the Round of 12 to go – he can still afford to play the long game for now.
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A retirement or puncture like he suffered at Kansas may doom him though, so there is still going to have to be some caution thrown into the wind.
The next month will tell us a lot about who will become the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series champion ahead of the November finale in Phoenix.