Tyler Reddick is back in the NASCAR Cup Series championship hunt, as are a few others.
Reddick claimed the win in the Freeway Insurance 500 on Oct. 18 at Phoenix Raceway, as points leader Kyle Larson struggled all day and allowed several other drivers to claw within a race of the lead.
Larson finished 34th after a tire failure; combined with zero stage points, Larson's points lead narrowed to five points ahead of Christopher Bell.
The top seven drivers in Cup points are separated by 56 points heading into Talladega on Oct. 25.
Here are the winners and losers from the NASCAR Phoenix fall race.
NASCAR Phoenix winners and losers
Winner: Tyler Reddick (and everyone in championship pursuit)
Tyler Reddick's win was crucial in pushing the
driver of the No. 45 Toyota within 56 points of points leader Kyle Larson.
But Reddick is just seventh in points as Kyle Larson's struggles at Phoenix (which we'll get to later) opened the door atop the points standings.
Between Larson and Reddick, Ryan Blaney (second at Phoenix), Christopher Bell (third), Joey Logano (sixth) and Chase Briscoe (eighth) all made up major ground with three races to go. Denny Hamlin had his own tire issues late and finished 28th — but made up ground to Larson despite sliding back to fourth in points.
In all, seven drivers enter Talladega with legitimate Cup Series title aspirations. That'll make for an interesting 500 miles.
Winner: Corey Heim
To shift away from the Chase chatter, Corey Heim continues to put together good finishes on a part-time schedule.
Heim used fresher tires in the final 20 laps to drive up to a fifth-place finish at Phoenix, his fourth top-10 finish in 12 starts.
All of those top 10s have come in the last seven starts, dating back to his win at Naval Base Coronado in June. And he has finished 19th or better in all seven races that he has been entered in with 23XI Racing's fourth entry.
Would it surprise anybody to see Heim in the Chase at this point next year? Heim's average finish in 12 races this year is 15, which (understanding that he and 23XI Racing can be selective with the part-time schedule) ranks tied for eighth in the Cup Series with at least that many starts.
Loser: Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson's 49-point lead coming into the weekend is now down to five points after he finished 34th at Phoenix.
The weekend for the No. 5 team was not good from start to finish. Larson qualified in 22nd on Oct. 17, then languished in the 20s for most of the first 200 laps in the race.
Then, Larson blew a tire and pounded the outside wall on Lap 283, ending his day and relegating him to a 34th-place run.
Just as important as the points margin is that six drivers are now within 56 points of Larson after only two (Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe) were within that margin before the race.
Loser: Bubba Wallace
At the point of the Larson tire failure and crash on Lap 283, Bubba Wallace was in complete control of the race.
Wallace grabbed the lead early in the final stage and drove away from Christopher Bell and others, then was building on his lead after the last green-flag pit cycle.
But the caution opened up a pit-stop sequence under yellow, and it could not have gone worse for Wallace and the No. 23 team.
The team opted for a four-tire stop as others either stayed out or took two tires. Wallace would have restarted in ninth — except that Wallace sped on pit road.
Wallace restarted at the rear of the field under penalty and could only manage back up to 17th place by the finish.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Phoenix winners, losers as Kyle Larson's issues erase points lead
