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Kyle Larson capped the NASCAR Cup Series' Round of 12 playoff finale with deft left and right turns Sunday afternoon, conquering the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the second time to win the Bank of America ROVAL 400 in Concord, N.C.
In the final restart, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver pulled away from Christopher Bell and slickly moved his Chevrolet around the 2.32-mile road layout for his series-high sixth win of 2024, topping Bell's No. 20 Toyota by 1.511 seconds.
William Byron, Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott completed the top five, but the biggest moment in the elimination race was Tyler Reddick overcoming a double-digit deficit over the final 26 circuits and knocking two-time champion Joey Logano out of title contention.
Driving the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota for team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, Reddick, the regular-season champ, finished 11th and locked in a spot in the championship standings.
Joining Logano in elimination were Team Penske teammate Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe.
On a beautiful afternoon outside North Carolina's Queen City, first-time Cup polesitter Shane van Gisbergen brought down the 38-car field for the final road-course race of 2024 and the field-setter for the Round of 8, leading until Lap 22.
The 109-lap race went caution-free until the completion of Stage 1 when Reddick secured the segment win. Logano, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Larson rounded out the top five.
However, Reddick's outlook soured when he banged into team owner Hamlin in Turn 7 on Lap 31 as Austin Dillon's No. 3 Chevrolet spun, sending Reddick's car to pit road for service.
In a must-win scenario entering the Roval race, last-place title contender Briscoe, who welcomed the birth of his twins earlier in the week, lost a tire on his No. 14 Ford to bring out the first caution for incident.
In the latter portion of Stage 2, the racing intensified as drivers leaned on each other to gain positions while Larson created a gap on Bell. Brad Keselowski and Ross Chastain were both sent spinning in minor incidents that kept the race under green.
Larson pitted from the point with two laps remaining, and Alex Bowman scored his first road-course stage win over AJ Allmendinger, Logano, Elliott and Bubba Wallace. Logano's 17 bonus points in the stages boosted him in the standings.
Meanwhile, Briscoe retired his car after 43 laps in 37th, marking his elimination from title contention, while Suarez brought his No. 99 Chevrolet to pit road with brake problems during the fourth caution.
More must-reads:
- Final 2025 NASCAR power rankings: Major shake-ups after Phoenix finale
- Kyle Larson edges Denny Hamlin for NASCAR title in OT; Ryan Blaney wins season finale
- The 'NFL Passing YPG leaders' quiz
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The 'NASCAR Cup Series winners' quiz
For the second time in his career, Kyle Larson is the NASCAR Cup Series champion after a dramatic championship race in Phoenix. Larson’s win ended up coming down to a gutsy call from his crew chief Cliff Daniels to change two tires rather than four like then-leader Denny Hamlin at the final pit stop that gave Larson a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. “This has been a tough season on a lot of fronts,” Daniels said after the win. We had some strong wins early in the year, but the summer was tough. We were down and sideways, never quite down and out.” “I mean, did anyone in here think we had a shot?” Larson asked the media. “Like Cliff was saying, we weren’t dead but we were pretty close.” Which brings us to today’s quiz. Larson last won NASCAR's top competition in 2021. With that being said, how many of the NASCAR Cup Series champions can you name in six minutes? Good luck! Did you like this quiz? Are there any quizzes you’d like to see us make in the future? Let us know your thoughts at quizzes@yardbarker.com, and make sure to subscribe to our Quiz of the Day Newsletter for daily quizzes sent right to your email!
Chiefs have a no-brainer trade target after loss vs. Bills
The last time the Kansas City Chiefs lost four games in a season, they went on to make the Super Bowl and beat the San Francisco 49ers. Six years have passed since, and Andy Reid's team will have to make some adjustments to replicate that fortune. That's especially evident after another heartbreaking regular-season loss to the Buffalo Bills, which exposed what might be the Chiefs' biggest flaw on offense: a lack of an explosive running game. That's why they need to pick up the phone and reach out to the New York Jets to trade for Breece Hall. Chiefs need to trade for Breece Hall According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Jets are more than open to trading Hall, who's in the final year of his contract. "The Jets have been getting calls on RB Breece Hall for a while, and while there is interest, New York is looking for at least a third-round pick in return," wrote Russini. Hall is just 24 years old, and while he had a major injury as a rookie, he's been pretty durable since. This season, he's up to 117 carries for 581 rushing yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. He also has 21 receptions on 30 targets for 178 receiving yards. The Chiefs average 121.2 rushing yards per game, the 12th most in the NFL. That's with Patrick Mahomes accounting for one-third of their rushing yards, though. Neither Isiah Pacheco — who's currently out with an injury — nor Kareem Hunt has been efficient, and rookie Brashard Smith might not be ready to take on a bigger role. The Chiefs ran for just 79 yards against a Bills defense that gives up the fourth-most rushing yards per game (141.4), and Hall could certainly fix those woes.
Commanders are reportedly ready to trade 2 Super Bowl veterans
The NFL trade deadline is 24 hours away, and the Washington Commanders have been thrust firmly into a seller position after falling to the Seattle Seahawks 38-14 to fall to 3-6 on the year. There was hope that a solid defensive performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8 would transfer to an even better showing against the Seahawks. Still, ultimately, the Commanders fell further than ever before, and with the loss of quarterback Jayden Daniels, there isn’t much outside hope left for the season, despite eight games remaining on the schedule. According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Washington may not be punting on the season, but may be looking to move players as the deadline nears. The First Names to Surface “Sources: The Commanders have been open to trading several players, including OL Andrew Wylie and OL Nick Allegretti, both of whom bring extensive starting and playoff experience,” Schultz reported. “Wylie has valuable position flexibility, having played both guard spots and right tackle during his career.” Why These Players Make Sense Both Wylie and Allegretti arrived at the Commanders with Super Bowl experience, having been part of championship Kansas City Chiefs rosters in the past. Although both have played important roles on this team at times, they were eventually replaced by younger options. For Wylie, his replacement in the starting lineup came in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft when the team drafted right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. out of Oregon. Allegretti started all of last year at left guard for Washington but was moved to the right side to start the season while the team tried second-year lineman Brandon Coleman at his position after trading for left tackle Laremy Tunsil in the offseason. With Sam Cosmi returning from his knee injury, both Wylie and Allegretti now serve backup roles with versatility. Wylie has the ability to play as a tackle and guard. At the same time, Allegretti can also serve as a team’s center and was counted on at times last year to help set protections when center Tyler Biadasz was battling injury. The Potential Return Each player would likely return a future Day 3 draft pick to the Commanders, who currently have six picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, including two in the sixth round after trading away second and fourth round picks to the Houston Texans for Tunsil. Of course, there’s also a possibility Washington could look to trade player for player in this scenario, as Schultz’s report doesn’t state exclusively that the team is looking for draft capital. With eight games remaining, and a ‘never say die’ approach to the game, we wouldn’t be totally floored if the Commanders tried to bring in players at other positions to try and save their sinking season before it takes on too much water. The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, November 4, at 4:00 p.m. ET.
Browns have obvious trade deadline move that should have been done months ago
The Cleveland Browns aren't going anywhere meaningful in 2025, and that should make them sellers before Tuesday's trade deadline. One player that makes far too much sense for them to trade is running back Jerome Ford. Ford makes sense as a trade candidate because he's in the final year of his deal and the Browns have a promising replacement in Quinshon Judkins. They also drafted Dylan Sampson in this year's draft, giving them two pieces they can hopefully continue to work with in the future. There was some talk a few weeks ago about how Ford's chances of being dealt weren't as high due to the lack of teams looking for help at running back. That's not necessarily the case anymore, as Dan Graziano of ESPN discussed how the Chargers, Chiefs, Patriots and Texans could all be searching for help to bolster their rushing attack. "Which running backs could be available? Well, it sounds like the Jets will hold on to Breece Hall unless the return is good enough to justify a move (maybe a third-round pick). Cleveland's Jerome Ford and Miami's Jaylen Wright are likely available. It doesn't sound like the Titans are eager to trade Tony Pollard, and even if the Panthers wanted to trade Chuba Hubbard (which I don't think they do), he has a $4.5 million guarantee in 2026 that would make it tough to do." Browns need to move Jerome Ford at the trade deadline It would be a different situation if Ford weren't going to be a free agent at season's end or if the Browns didn't have a suitable replacement for him, but that's not the timeline we're living in. Ford is going to be a free agent, and the team does have a suitable replacement. Getting a draft pick for Ford is a good scenario for Cleveland, and there are teams that might be desperate to add him. Graziano mentioned the three teams above, and all of them make sense due to injuries. The time is now for those teams to seek help and for the Browns to potentially provide it. It's now or never, and this just makes too much sense for Cleveland not to do it.
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