The Chase Report presented by Mobil 1: Where we stand after Phoenix

Tyler Reddick rose like a phoenix, scoring his sixth win of the season and first since April with a rousing victory at Phoenix Raceway. Suddenly, Reddick sits just 56 points behind series leader Kyle Larson after the standings significantly tightened in The Chase presented by Mobil 1. Here's where we stand in The Chase after the Freeway Insurance 500 at Phoenix and before Sunday's YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). RELATED: Phoenix results | Cup Series standings

Chase Changer

Larson's weekend began on the back foot after qualifying 22nd, but the pivotal moment came on Lap 283 when his No. 5 Chevrolet pounded the outside SAFER barrier in Turn 1 with a flat right-front tire. With zero stage points and a 34th-place finish, Larson walked away with just three points easily his worst finish all Chase long. The other turning point in The Chase came on the ensuing restart at Lap 294, when Reddick restarted fifth and shot through the middle of a four-wide hole in Turns 1 and 2 to rocket into second place after a two-tire pit call by crew chief Billy Scott. That positioned Reddick perfectly to pounce on race leader Chase Briscoe and his older Goodyear Racing tires just one lap later, overtaking the lead and launching himself back into the championship picture with three races remaining.

The Chase Board

What once appeared to look like a Larson runaway has instantly become a seven-racer slugfest leaving the Arizona desert, with names like Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick each eyeing their first NASCAR Cup Series championship while Larson, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano look to collect another Bill France Cup trophy. Larson's opponents finally got what they were looking for -- a bad day for the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team -- and yet the two-time champion remains atop the leaderboard. Larson's problem now, of course, is that his lead is down to just five points over Christopher Bell while everyone between Larson and Reddick in seventh is within a 56-point margin. The championship picture is wide open for the taking for any of those drivers with three chances left on the schedule. The trouble Larson encountered allowed each of his 15 Chase competitors to close the gap on the No. 5 team. But the Chase driver who fell hardest in Sunday's standings was perhaps who we thought may have been Larson's biggest threat for the title -- Hamlin. Hamlin gained 18 points on the gap to Larson's lead, but the No. 11 team slid two spots to fourth in the standings, 31 points behind the defending champion after Hamlin's day was derailed by a late flat tire that ultimately trapped him one lap down -- an issue compounded by a simultaneous pit-road speeding penalty. Only four other drivers gained as many points or fewer on Larson as Hamlin: William Byron (18), Ryan Preece (16), Austin Cindric (15) and Chris Buescher (12). [table id=874 /] Source: Racing Insights

Next Up

The only thing predictable about Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway is that it will be unpredictable. NASCAR returns to the 2.66-mile superspeedway with a 3.5-inch rear spoiler, half the size of the rear blade teams used in the spring during the series' last visit to Alabama. With less rear downforce should come more maneuverability for drivers behind the wheel, providing drivers options to move throughout the drafting pack of cars during the 188-lap contest. But with the tight confines of the draft come potentially big consequences -- like the "Big One," the infamous multicar pileup known to rear its head at superspeedways like Talladega. A mistake by one driver in the pack could instantly send the points standings into further disarray with such tight margins throughout the top half of The Chase field. Larson is still looking for his first superspeedway victory. Briscoe, Hamlin, Blaney, Logano and Reddick have each won at Talladega -- including three wins for Blaney. Other Chase drivers know the pathway to Talladega's Victory Lane as well, like April victor Carson Hocevar, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace. But with a seven-car breakaway out front, stage points and race wins will dictate the pace of the final two Chase races to follow Talladega.