Ross Chastain<\/a>, a lap down but leading the outside lane, effectively played jammer ahead of those behind him. Chastain ultimately pushed Larson to the win.<\/p>\nIn a way, Chastain leading the outside lane contributed to the second big crash that wiped out several contenders including Joey Logano, not that he took exception to it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a race,\u201d Logano said. \u201cEveryone has a right to go racing. He\u2019s racing for himself as well. I don\u2019t know. Was he one down? He was on the lead lap, so it wasn\u2019t his fault that we wrecked. I don\u2019t think you can really blame it on anyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just what speedway racing is these days. It really sucks at times. At times it\u2019s pretty awesome and at times you end up on your lid and you say it sucks. I don\u2019t know. I like Martinsville.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whatever chance everyone else had at winning this championship required fully capitalizing on these past two races, Larson\u2019s two worst tracks. He conceded he sucked at Phoenix and has never won a superspeedway race.<\/p>\n
None of Larson\u2019s closest pursuers won at Phoenix and practically all of them crashed at Talladega when he finally won on a superspeedway.<\/p>\n
Read Also:<\/p>\n
That includes Ryan Blaney, who certainly is the favorite to win at Martinsville.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s on life support,\u201d Blaney said of his title hopes. \u201cThat\u2019s for sure, but you never know. \u00a0It definitely doesn\u2019t help. That\u2019s something we couldn\u2019t afford to have today and unfortunately it happened, so we\u2019ll just have to go show up next week and try to do the best we can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ultimately, this is the weekend where Larson won the championship, and crew chief Cliff Daniels did his part to quickly turn the page on the Phoenix disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI walked in on Monday and owned it completely,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cIt’s on me for the setup we had in the car. I thought there was more that could translate from our good setup at Gateway to Phoenix than what reality shows for that tire and that track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniels said that he was proud of his driver and team for their efforts to do the best they could with the decision he made for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we kind of got through the disappointment we had on a Monday, we spent more time probably laughing and having fun preparing for Talladega this week than we’ve had in a long time,\u201d Daniels said. \u201cThe spirit of the team was up. Everybody was positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve said this quote a couple times after the race already, but a smooth sea does not make for a skilled sailor.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven when you have those times of difficulty and the sea is rough, that’s when you have a good group of people that are willing to dig in and work together and believe in each other and the process that we built, and the team exercise that we continue to build on every week, there’s a lot of power in that. When you can unite and identify with that. I’m proud of the 5 team doing that this week and showing up prepared for this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how they always are, Larson said, and this sort of steadiness is why they are about to win their third championship in six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don’t do much celebrating whether we win, and we don’t get too down when we have rough races either,\u201d Larson said. \u201cWhen you look at a lot of different championship organizations and teams throughout many different sports, I think that’s a common theme that you see. It’s led by Cliff and his leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s just what we’ve always been like. I think we’re just really good at refocusing on what’s ahead and not getting too far ahead or behind of what we need to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kyle-larson-celebrates-with-te.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Kyle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kyle-larson-wins-no-5-hendrick.jpg\")
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