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<\/p>\nAnd then there were three.<\/p>\n
Standings leader Kyle Larson didn\u2019t produce a stellar performance in Martinsville Speedway\u2019s Xfinity 500, but neither did his challengers for this year\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n
Larson never led in the race won by Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron and at one point he was a lap down, but he fought back to a ninth-place finish to roll into the season-finale at Homestead with a 67-point lead over second place Christopher Bell, who placed 10th. Denny Hamlin, who finished sixth, dropped to third in the standings with a 70-point deficit to Larson. Chase Briscoe was eliminated from the championship fight with his 14th-place finish in Sunday\u2019s race. He now trails Larson by 84 points. The most points a driver can earn in a race is 76.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a difficult race,\u201d Larson said. \u201cThe first Stage got away with us on strategy. I assumed we were just kind of playing off the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin). The second half of the run didn\u2019t go like we needed it to. We could have used a caution at some point to save us, but, unfortunately, it went green the whole way and we got ate up. I was just hanging on.<\/p>\n
\u201cFortunately, we got back on the lead lap in the second Stage, and we just kind of had to fight it out from there. It was just hard to pass. I tried some runs to pass and beat my tires up. Other runs, I tried to save and it was just kind of net-whatever. It was just a bummer day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Icon Sportswire\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Still, Larson said that going to Homestead with a 67-point advantage gave him a \u201csense of relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t lose as many points as I was expecting to today, so I\u2019m happy with that,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n
Bell said he got tricked into thinking he was better than he was.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy team, Adam (Stevens, crew chief), did a great strategy call there in Stage one to pit and got us a bunch of track position,\u201d Bell said. \u201cOn the Stage 2 start, I felt like I was pretty good. Adam came on the radio and said that William (Byron) was running part throttle. I\u2019m at 100 percent; he\u2019s at 80 percent. I was pretty close on the short run, then the long run I fell off. All-in-all, 10th is probably about where we stacked up. It was really a hectic day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamlin said his problem in the race came down to the team\u2019s decision to run a no-stop strategy in the 130-lap first Stage.<\/p>\n
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Jared C. Tilton\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Denny Hamlin.<\/p>\n
\u201cLost all of our track position there,\u201d a dejected Hamlin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we got to the back, then you got all those incidents, the cautions, then obviously the 22 (Joey Logano) got the 20 (Christopher Bell), and the 20 got into us. It\u2019s racing. I guess. You\u2019re going to have that. Once we lost our track position \u2026 it\u2019s hard to drive back to the front.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamlin noted they failed to capitalize on Larson not acquiring any Stage points in the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a lot of unfortunate timing of some things,\u201d Hamlin continued. \u201cFor us, this weekend was about everything to gain, nothing to lose. We just didn\u2019t gain enough to make it realistic.\u201d <\/p>\n
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