NASCAR Texas finish summarizes 2023 season in a nutshell

It's Byron's sixth win of the year, several of which have come by way of passes on late restarts. Larson, meanwhile, has now led the most laps on the season with 897, but only has three points-paying victories.

Much of Larson's inconsistency in his results has not been his fault -- for starters, he'd very likely have two more wins if he wasn't shoved into the wall by Denny Hamlin at Kansas and Pocono. He also would have won on Sunday going away had it not been for the rash of late cautions that set up his spin.

However, despite Larson's blinding speed, Byron may be the safer championship pick among the Hendrick Motorsports teammates right now due to the ability he's shown to avoid errors like this. It's also worth noting that one of his late-race thefts was at Phoenix, the track where the title race will be held.

The race at Texas was an eventful one from the drop of the green flag, with 11 caution periods breaking up the action and several playoff contenders finding trouble. Kyle Busch blew a tire and saw his day end early, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick were caught up in a late accident, and Hamlin was extremely lucky to not have his day ruined by this heavy contact with teammate Ty Gibbs on pit road.

The heartbreaker of the race belonged to Erik Jones, who took the famed No. 43 up to a second-place run behind Larson for much of the going but was involved in the same wreck that took out Blaney and Reddick. Jones and Legacy Racing Club have made noticeable strides as of late, and could be in line for a big season in 2024 as the team will switch manufacturers to Toyota.

Bubba Wallace had one of the best races of his career as he looks to continue his playoff spoiler run. He led a race-high 111 laps from the pole, and led on the final restart before Byron's three-wide move catapulted him to the front.

No driver has been able to sustain momentum as the title favorite for very long during the 2023 playoffs. A few weeks ago it was Martin Truex, Jr., then it seemed to have shifted to Larson and Hamlin. Now, the ball may be back in Byron's court.