Kyle Larson snaps, slams into the wall, collects Chase Briscoe in violent Atlanta wreck
A nightmare start to the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe as they are out of the Atlanta race early. The end of Stage 1 was only three laps away when Larson shot up into the wall and Briscoe came in for the secondary impact.
This is the last thing that Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe wanted to see today. This will more or less wipe out Larson’s buffer to the cutline and likely put Briscoe in a hole he will have to win his way out of.
Two playoff drivers out of this race before the end of Stage 1. What consequences will come from this?
Kyle Larson entered with more playoff points than any other driver. He now drops to just 12 points above the cutline, and he could still lose more points before the day is over. This is going to be a nail-biting afternoon for the No. 5 team.
Atlanta was bound to take out a couple of NASCAR Playoff drivers. It probably isn’t going to be the only incident that takes out drivers racing for the championship.
Larson in particular does not have good luck at Atlanta. He has a thing about superspeedways and he normally gets into trouble like he did today.
Besides, what did happen? Kyle Larson took a huge hit and isn’t quite sure what caused it. It could have been a right rear tire or the car may have just turned on him in the corner. As he lost the car, Larson turned right to get out of the spin, but overcorrected and shot up into the wall.
Kyle Larson falters, Ryan Blaney wins Stage 1
While Kyle Larson found himself out of the race early, other playoff drivers took full advantage of the situation. Ryan Blaney put himself in position and ended up winning Stage 1 while under caution.
Team Penske as a whole showed up with a plan. They have been able to draft together and push one another. Austin Cindric in particular helped Blaney get to the front and ultimately, the stage win.
Atlanta is going to take out more drivers. We are only going to see more intense racing as the night goes on. As that intensity ramps up, there are more opportunities for wrecks and chaos.
Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe just showed everyone why this race was causing drivers to be nervous. Now, two playoff contenders are going to be put in a hole that they have to climb out of. Larson is in a better place than Briscoe, but it can still end in disappointment after today’s result.