NASCAR YellaWood 500 takeaways: Kyle Larson back in control of title race after wild Talladega win

A lot has been made of Larson's lack of success on drafting tracks, but it has not been for a lack of effort and frequently putting himself near the front. With only a five-point lead in the standings coming in, this looked like an opportunity for the rest of the field to capitalize on.

Instead, Larson's points lead has increased to 73 over Denny Hamlin, who finished a respectable eighth but failed to score any stage points. With a maximum of 76 points awarded per race and only two races remaining at Martinsville and Homestead-Miami — arguably Larson's best track — this is his title to lose. 

Joey Logano flips in massive crash late

The three-time Cup Series champion came into the day sixth in points and just 44 markers behind Kyle Larson for the championship lead. With a Stage 2 win and 12 stage points to his credit on Sunday, everything appeared to be lining up for Logano to inch closer to the top of the standings.

That all changed when he was tapped from behind by Carson Hocevar going through the tri-oval and immediately flipped onto his side after making heavy contact with the wall. Logano's No. 22 Mustang eventually came to rest on its roof as several drivers sustained heavy hits with five laps remaining.

While Logano appeared unharmed after the scary crash and spoke with reporters after being released from the infield care center, he ultimately finished 34th and is now a whopping 100 points back of Larson as his title hopes appear to be gone barring a shocking turn of events going forward.

Multiple title contenders encounter issues in opening two stages

Amid an opening stage dominated by fuel saving, a group of Toyotas was the last to hit pit road for green-flag stops. However, as Christopher Bell tried to slow down at full speed, he lost control and spun into the inside wall before making his stop just 56 laps into the race.

With just 57 laps left, trouble struck at the front when Ryan Blaney was bumped from behind by Bubba Wallace and triggered a multi-car accident that also ended the day for Phoenix winner and title threat Tyler Reddick.

Bell dropped from five points back to 74, while Blaney (-107) and Reddick (-126) lost major ground in the standings and lost out on a huge opportunity to cut into Larson's lead. At this point, their title hopes are all but dashed.

Fuel-mileage issues reach a new low

In an effort to reduce the prevalence of fuel conservation during green-flag runs on superspeedways, NASCAR has implemented a shorter rear spoiler to help drivers make moves through the field and changed the Talladega stage lengths to 98, 45 and 45.

While the final two stages were highly entertaining, the entire field consistently ran at least five to six seconds off the pace and even allowed the RFK Racing trio of Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher to nearly lap them at full speed.

They deserve credit for outsmarting the rest of the field with that strategy move, but the aggressive fuel saving is still a concerning trend on superspeedways, and it reached another low on Sunday.