Kyle Larson leads Cup Series points after Bristol

Three races into the Chase and Larson has turned a runner-up finish into the points lead — which tells you something about how thin the margins are at the front of this playoff. A single point separates him from Hamlin, meaning one mechanical, one caution at the wrong moment, one pit-call error flips the standings again. That kind of volatility is exactly what the Chase format is designed to produce, and Bristol has delivered it.