In his two NASCAR Cup Series championship seasons, Kyle Larson has led a charmed life.
In 2021, he was running fourth in the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix when a late caution gave him a chance to win the race off pit road from stall No. 1. Larson parlayed that opportunity into his first title.
Last year, Denny Hamlin had the field covered at Phoenix and was leading comfortably with just over three laps left when William Byron’s blown tire sent the race to overtime. After pit stops, Larson finished third to Hamlin’s sixth to steal a second championship.
Accordingly, you can’t blame Larson for seeing a pathway to another title, even though the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet hasn’t won a Cup race since May 11, 2025 at Kansas Speedway—a drought that reached 50 races last Saturday at Daytona.
“I’m not as confident as I’ve been, for sure, in other years,” Larson said during NASCAR Cup Chase Media Day at the Charlotte Convention Center. “But I wasn’t, honestly, sitting here that confident last year, and we were able to win the championship.
“So, I know there’s a path to do it. We did it last year without winning a race in the final 10. And, yeah, we weren’t even really all that consistent, from what I remember. I think if you can be ultra-consistent in these final 10, there’s no doubt that I could see ourselves winning the championship.
“I could also see ourselves winning four or five races in (the Chase). Things have to go perfect, but we do have a lot of good tracks for us in these final 10. We need to execute at a high level, and I think our team is definitely capable of that, so just try and do our best.”
The opening Chase race is Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (5 p.m. ET on USA, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Larson has posted one victory and seven top fives in 17 starts at the Lady in Black.
One schedule move Larson was happy to see was the shift of the final race from Phoenix to Homestead-Miami Speedway, one of his best tracks.
“Phoenix, we suck,” said Larson, even though he won his two championships there. “I’m glad that’s not the final race anymore. We are horrible there, so that’s maybe our worst track on the schedule.”
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