This weekend at the Daytona International Speedway marks the regular season finale of the 2023 campaign. The championship is heating up, especially with one Playoff spot remaining, and many gunning for it. However, there is another big storyline that is flying under the radar, namely the quest for the 2023 regular season title.

Currently, Martin Truex Jr leads the standings, ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin, and Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron.

Now, one has to wonder whether Byron will be able to clinch the regular season title. He currently sits in third place in the standings and has a 76-point gap between himself and standings leader Truex Jr. The bad news is, considering that there are 60 points up for grabs at Daytona, it is mathematically impossible.

If not William Byron, who can win the regular season championship?

Winning both stages offers 10 points each, and winning the main race offers 40 points. Coming to a grand total of 60 points, Byron is 16 points shy, even if Truex Jr. doesn’t score.

One with the most realistic option is Denny Hamlin. This is because he is 39 points behind his teammate and championship rival. All that he needs to do is win the final stage and hope that Truex Jr does not score more than one point. For the sake of insurance, Hamlin will also be aiming to sweep all three stage wins. So this would give him a 19-point cushion, and hopefully, Truex Jr scores less than 19 points.

Over the past few races, Hamlin has been in good form, especially in qualifying. Last weekend at Watkins Glen, he was on pole position, which put him right in the hunt for a win and a good finish. Meanwhile, Martin Truex Jr. had qualified further down in 19th place, so he had a mountain ahead of him in order to increase his lead. In the end, Hamlin’s second-place closed the gap a little, but Truex Jr was a few places behind him in 6th.

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William Byron and Kyle Larson are carrying Hendrick Motorsports’ hopes

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So far in 2023, the Hendrick Motorsports team has been in a spot of trouble. Only Byron and Larson have qualified for the Playoffs, and there is room for either Chase Elliott or Alex Bowman, but not both. This is because there is only one Playoff berth up for grabs, so either way, at least one Hendrick car is not going to make it. On the other end of the scale, there is no guarantee that Elliott or Bowman would make it, with other strong contenders.

In other words, William Byron and Kyle Larson are HMS’s only hope of winning the 2023 Cup Series championship. All that remains is to see how the Cup race at the Daytona International Speedway will play out and decide the contenders.

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