Kyle Larson will view the Cup Series race at Pocono as a missed opportunity. The 31-year-old finished in P13, a below-average finish by his lofty standards, largely due to a speeding penalty. This meant that the Hendrick Motorsports driver was forced to concede his first-place position in the drivers’ standings to Chase Elliott, who is currently 3 points ahead after 21 races.

With playoffs on the horizon, Larson’s speeding penalty may potentially cost him 15 playoff points if he doesn’t finish on top after the 5 regular season races that remain. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that he felt that NASCAR’s actions were harsh.

Larson didn’t have the best of luck this weekend. He spun during qualifying and was forced to start the Great American Getaway 400 in 12th place. The Hendrick Motorsports driver took until Stage 2 to enter the top 10 positions – 6th by the time 65 laps had gone by. However, his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was hit with a speeding penalty after being found guilty of exceeding the speed limit in Section 7 on the pit road, a small section just past the start-finish line.

In an interview with Frontstretch, he was asked if there was something wrong with what he did or if NASCAR made a mistake. Kyle Larson replied, “I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to talk to the team. I think it sounds like, yeah, Section 7 is different, maybe, than it was in the past. Bit of a bummer, just ’cause I didn’t push it. I didn’t push it over our max. Like I never thought I would be speeding.”

He added, “So when they came on the radio and said that we would be speeding, I was surprised. So yeah, just unfortunate you don’t know how the race plays out.” With 45 laps to go, Larson led the pack off pit road following the final round of pitstops. He had his teammate (and regular season championship contender) Chase Elliott right behind him. However, considering they were both caught speeding in pit road, they were relegated to the back before the final restart.

So, what could’ve been a top-five finish for both HMS drivers (on a weekend where Kyle Larson’s No. 5 just didn’t seem to have the pace others did) ended with Elliott in P9 and Larson in P13. Reflecting on this misfortune, the No. 5 driver said, “You’re going to restart the leader there; clean air is very important here. I don’t know if I would have won, but obviously, I would have finished better than 13th. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.” Even Elliott seemed surprised, confessing, “I don’t understand why the rest of the day, I’ve been OK [in that section]. I don’t think I did that much different.”

Surprisingly, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliot weren’t the only ones found guilty of speeding on the pit road. Ty Gibbs and Daniel Suarez were also penalized for speeding in the same section, prompting speculation about whether something on the track has changed compared to the past. It can’t be a coincidence that four seasoned NASCAR drivers would not be able to stay within the speed limit on the pit road, especially in such a crucial stage of the season, where any penalties could seriously hurt their playoff chances.

Aside from his pitlane penalty, one other thing surprised the HSM driver during the race.

Kyle Larson was amazed to see a 23XI Racing driver’s form

Having finished 6th at Pocono Raceway, Tyler Reddick has been showing tremendous consistency in the NASCAR Cup Series lately. The 28-year-old has not finished below sixth place in the last four races, with a third-place result at the Nashville Superspeedway and a runner-up position at the Chicago Street Course.

Currently ranked 3rd in the driver standings, the No. 45 Toyota Camry driver is undoubtedly a ‘dark horse’ this season. Speaking about Tyler Reddick’s form, Kyle Larson said, “[Reddick] has surprised me where he’s at currently because I feel like he’s just been quiet, which is odd for Tyler Reddick. I was surprised [because] before Chicago, I looked and was like, ‘Man, he’s actually within range.’ I’ve just been so focused the last four or five weeks on the No. 9 (Chase Elliott) and the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin), and then it was like, ‘Wow, he could easily steal this thing.’”

As things stand, Tyler Reddick is 5 points ahead of his team boss, Denny Hamlin, in the standings and 12 points behind Kyle Larson. However, with five races remaining in the regular season, Reddick has momentum on his side to continue his majestic run and potentially finish at the top. This could be a serious blow to Kyle Larson, who has led the standings for a big chunk of the season and was banking on the 15 playoff points to win his second NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Do you think Kyle Larson will finish at the top of the driver standings at the end of the regular season?