Kyle Larson failing to run for championship leaves Xfinity star baffled, talks about playoff system - “This one is hard to process honestly”

Kyle Larson led 1687 laps this year, amassed 12 stage wins, 15 top-5s, 17 top-10s, and a season-high six wins. Yet he will not be competing for his second championship title next week at Phoenix Raceway. The Elk Grove native fell out of contention by only seven points.

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Sage Karam had a hard time accepting the fact that the 2021 Cup Series champion, who won the elimination races in the first two rounds, is no longer vying for the series title. In the words of the 2013 Indy NXT champion, all this is “hard to process.” In his latest post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Karam said,

“Wild that Larson isn’t running for a championship after a year like he had. Sometimes I understand the playoffs but this one is hard to process honestly.”

Larson’s teammate William Byron, however, made the final four and will now compete for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. When the race ended, the No. 24 driver was tied with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell on points. But Bell’s last-lap pass against 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace was deemed illegal by the officials, which relegated him from 18th to 22nd.

Back in 2022, Trackhouse Racing sensation Ross Chastain, too, used one such move at Martinsville, which is known as the famous “Hail Melon” move inside the community. However, NASCAR banned the wall-riding move that year itself.

Bell didn’t escape post-race scrutiny and thus lost his chance to qualify. The final four drivers to compete for the title this year are Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Byron, and race winner Ryan Blaney.

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Kyle Larson deems his actions against Ryan Blaney foul

Last year, Ryan Blaney, the Team Penske speedster, overcame a five-point deficit to Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott with 55 laps to go. With about 40 laps later, he passed Elliott for the lead and didn’t look behind after that. The reigning Cup Series Champion picked his fourth win of the season by 2.593 seconds over Elliott, who finished second.

After the race, Kyle Larson, who finished inside the top three for the third time this year, spoke with Frontstretch about what he thought of Blaney’s car.

“We made the right call for our race and gave us a shot to have something happen and maybe, win but the 12 (Ryan Blaney) was super good and we stayed out and held on a lot longer than I thought I would,” Kyle Larson said. “Proud of the team's fight and we'll just try and get more for next year.”(0:06)

The reporter then asked Larson if the little contact that Blaney made with him in the closing laps seemed fair, to which Larson replied,

“Oh, it was fair; super fair. If anything it was foul what I did shoving him back through the other end of the racetrack. Chase (Elliott) passed me so I am trying to buy him as much time as I can help, (but) it's just not enough. The 12 was super fast. Congrats to Ryan.” (0:34)

Although no longer a playoff driver, Larson can still contend for his seventh win of the season. Fans can watch him race at Phoenix (on November 10 from 3 pm ET onwards) only on NBC Sports. MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide live radio updates on the 312-lap event at the mile-long short track in Avondale, Arizona.