After a dominating performance at Bristol to end the Round of 16, Kyle Larson seemed primed for a fantastic start to the Round of 12, but it wasn’t meant to be at Kansas Speedway.

Larson finished P26 after dealing with some damage due to debris on Sunday, and while he’s still 18 points above the cut-line, the unpredictable schedule featuring Talladega and the Charlotte Roval have some wondering if he’s in trouble. In light of that assertion, NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi examined where the No. 5 stands.

“Now, this driver is not saying, ‘What if?’ because it was completely out of their control, but Kyle Larson. Kyle Larson, this was supposed to be Larson versus [Denny] Hamlin today, and at one point, you look up, and they’re running like 29th and 30th, for various reasons, completely separate incidents,” Gluck started, via The Teardown.

“Larson, of course, runs over a piece of debris. I mean, you can get all the points you want. He dominates Bristol. Gets even more playoff points. He’s in great position to start this round. Got the clean slate. You go off into lap 20 or something, wherever it was, and he cuts a tire, and he hits the wall. For the rest of the day, Cliff Daniels, a couple of times, he tried to get him track position, so he could stay out and try to get stage points, and at one point I think he went from like 12th to 30th. Like, he had a parachute, but his car didn’t look that bad.

“… He’s +18, I believe. You know, he hasn’t had the best luck at super speedways, but that doesn’t mean it’s a pattern that’s going to repeat itself. But that’s another example of why, if you go to Talladega, crash out, something happens, suddenly you’re going to the Roval in a difficult position. It’s a strange thing. I don’t even know how you wrap your head around these playoffs sometimes.”

Evidently, Gluck and Bianchi believe Larson’s misfortunes are another example of the volatility of NASCAR’s playoff system, and while they’re not ready to think the No. 5 is in danger, a rough performance at Talladega could change everything for the former Cup Series champion.

“It was underneath. The diffuser was the issue. Cosmetically, the body was fine, but it was underneath stuff that you can’t see, and that messed everything up,” Bianchi said, regarding the damage. “… We said on this show a week ago, I felt like that was a statement win for Kyle Larson, a reminder of how great his team can be, and they’re starting to heat up a little bit, and winning two, maybe three more races the rest of the way. It felt like that championship push was really on the upswing.

“Seven days later, just forget about that. Seven days later you’re looking at it like, ‘Man, they’ve got to get out of round two. That’s the uniqueness, some would say beauty, some would say not, and it’s certainly the uniqueness of this playoff format, where it’s so volatile and tumultuous and all of those words from week-to-week where you don’t know.”

Kyle Larson has been the favorite for the Cup Series title for quite some time, and for good reason, but the next two weeks will be huge for the Hendrick Motorsports star, as the No. 5 wheelman needs to get back on track after a tough afternoon in Kansas.

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