Kyle Larson fortunate to retain NASCAR points lead after disastrous race at Phoenix

Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. 

Larson, who entered Sunday's race as the points leader with four races to go and a 49-point advantage over second-place Denny Hamlin, knew he would have an uphill climb from the green flag after qualifying 22nd on Saturday, a qualifying effort that led to the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion showing rare frustration.

Sunday wasn't much better than Saturday for the No. 5 group. Larson's car went backwards from the drop of the green flag like it was dragging a piano behind it, and he fell back as far as 26th in the race's final stage and scored zero stage points. 

But there was hope for Larson in the closing laps in the form of strategy. While the rest of the field made their final green flag pit stops with roughly 40 laps to go, Larson stayed on the racetrack, hoping to catch a fortunately-timed caution and snag some track position.

Phoenix unravels for Kyle Larson

Instead, he blew a tire and hit the wall hard in turn 1. Larson took his car to the garage and climbed out, finishing 34th.