Kyle Larson had a dominant start to the season. Twelve races in, he had already won three times, finishing in the top-5 on eight occasions and leading more than 700 laps. At one point, he was sitting comfortably as the points leader. But things kind of spiraled down for a bit in the second half of the regular season.
However, given his early-season success, the slump doesn’t seem to have affected his season much. Recently, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) driver was asked if his early-season runs and wins acted as a safety net for him when things started going south. Larson, being Larson, had a rather strong response to this.
Kyle Larson Makes His Feelings Clear on His Approach for Every Race
So, the slump started for Larson after his second “Double” attempt also failed. First, he crashed in the Indianapolis 500 and then also got a DNF in the Coca-Cola 600. Then, in the seven races that followed his P37 in Charlotte, Larson only got one top-5 finish. And was only able to lead three laps total.
However, that slump recently ended with him bagging a P4 finish in the recent Dover International Speedway race. Even with the seven mediocre weekends, Larson’s campaign did not derail. He is locked in the playoffs. He is still third in the points ranking, only 38 points behind current points leader Chase Elliott, and Larson is well within reach of that regular-season championship.
Undoubtedly, this is all thanks to how well the first half of his season went. However, according to Larson, getting a few wins early on and focusing on having a safe passage into the playoffs isn’t really the No. 5 team’s style.
Read More: Kyle Larson Reveals the One Reason Why Brickyard 400 Stands Among His Most Prestigious Wins
In a recent interview at SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, he spoke on this, where he said, “Yeah, I don’t know. I feel like for our team, the whole locking yourself into the playoffs early in the year is not something we think about or worry about. When we have won races in the past, it’s not like, oh, we’ve got this big weight off our shoulders and now we can call races differently or anything like that. I think every team, but especially ours, we’re racing to win every week, and it’s no different.”
Ever since Larson joined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, the No. 5 team has been unstoppable, always getting multiple wins each season. So, making the playoffs is a given for them, being one of the top teams in NASCAR. Rather, they focus more on winning and being as consistent as possible. That’s probably why they have 26 wins and counting in just five seasons.
Kyle Larson kisses the bricks as the champion of the #Brickyard400
Rick Hendrick powered through recent knee surgery to kiss the bricks too, getting down and then up with assistance. Crowd loved it. pic.twitter.com/o7vF5Ygiqx
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) July 21, 2024
“Like I said, our team expects to be in the playoffs. We typically perform at a high level, but yeah, the last couple of months have been a bit of a struggle, so maybe those wins were good, I guess. I don’t know,” Larson added.
Now that ‘Yung Money’ has made a comeback, he hopes to get a back-to-back win at the iconic Brickyard 400. He wants to kiss those bricks again.
If he does that, he’ll join an elite class of drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jarrett, who have won the crown jewel event multiple times. But the Indy track can be tricky, so let’s see how the race unfolds for him. However, he finished his P4 at the Pennzoil 250 at the same venue, staying consistent even after getting involved in a wreck.
