Christopher Bell wins at Homestead, joins Kyle Larson in Championship 4
Yahoo Sports' Nick Bromberg recaps Sunday's running at Homestead - where Bell secured the second spot in the Championship 4, setting up a likely battle between Blaney, Reddick, Treux Jr., and Hamlin for the last spot.
Video Transcript
NICK BROMBERG: It's highly unlikely that both Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr. will be racing for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series title. Both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers had late race problems on Sunday at Homestead, as their teammate Christopher Bell passed William Byron with 15 laps to go to win and clinch a spot in the title race. Bell and Kyle Larson are now guaranteed to be racing for the championship at Phoenix.
The question heading into next week's race at Martinsville is, who will join them? Hamlin was heading towards a top five finish before a part broke on his car. And he slammed into the wall with 32 laps to go to bring out a caution. As Hamlin pulled his car to the pits, Truex told his team that he was having problems with his engine. Within a span of minutes, both drivers were out of the race.
William Byron is a safe bet to be part of the Final Four. He's 30 points ahead of Tyler Reddick in fifth, and 37 points ahead of both Truex and Hamlin. Ryan Blaney is a decent bet too. He's 17 points ahead of the JGR duo. Seventeen points is a deficit that can be overcome in just two stages. But 37 points is a big margin. And why it's a near certainty that Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, and Blaney are likely to be racing for one playoff spot.
The race's oddest moment on Sunday came when Larson aggressively tried to enter pit road behind Blaney during the final green flag pit stop cycle. Larson knew he could be aggressive on Sunday thanks to his clinching win at Las Vegas a week ago. But it was a bit too aggressive and clipped the rear end of Blaney's car before he crashed into the protective barriers at the edge of the pit road wall. The crash ended Larson's day.