Kyle Larson retakes NASCAR Cup Series points lead over Chase Elliott

While Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott entered Sunday's Ally 400 at Nashville tied for the NASCAR Cup Series points lead, it was Larson who ended the day atop the standings.

Larson's eighth-place, 44-point performance trumped that of Elliott, who could only muster up an 18th-place finish after a Stage 3 spin.

With Elliott boasting just one win to Larson's three, the 15 potential playoff points that serve as the reward for the regular-season champion seem all the more important for the No. 9 team, who don't seem to have the race-winning speed found under the hood of the No. 5 car.

While second place does receive a consolation prize of 10 playoff points, the extra five points — equal to the prize race winners get — could be the difference in a driver making the Championship Four at the end of the season.

If Larson — the provisional playoff leader with 23 playoff points already piled high — were to also gain the 15 points awarded to the regular-season champion, it would almost ensure his advancement to the Round of 12.

Getting through the second round of the playoffs — a round featuring the wild cards of Kansas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval — is no easy task, but storing up playoff points is essential to making a deep postseason run.

The battle for the Cup Series points battle will only get more intense at the Chicago Street Race on Sunday, where Elliott and Larson finished third and fourth, respectively, in 2023.