Can Kyle Larson pull off one more late-summer charge? The margin of error has all but disappeared, but the lead in points is still within reach with three races remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season. From now until Daytona, every lap, pit stop, and stage point will count. In addition to winning the regular-season championship, Larson made 2021 one of the most successful seasons in recent NASCAR history. With wins at Watkins Glen and Bristol, as well as top-five finishes at Darlington, his late-summer surge secured the title and created a playoff-point cushion that carried him to the championship.
Along the way, Kyle “Yung Money” Larson won 60 dirt-track races and secured $1 million for winning the NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. By the end of the year, he had won 33 races out of 97, which is an incredible 34 percent win rate. With 10 victories, 18 stage victories, 20 top fives, 26 top tens, 2,581 laps led, and an average finish of 9.1, his Cup Series stats were equally impressive. Now, as the 2025 regular season draws to a close, the task is to replicate that level of accuracy and momentum, and Larson himself spoke about his chances to do the same.
Larson eyes late-season surge as team Hendrick holds points lead
Larson knows the path forward, and he isn’t shying away from the challenge. On asking what’s the thing that will help him win the regular-season championship, Larson said, “Yeah, I mean, some good finishes, good stage points these next few weeks will be really important. We are not out of it. I think you’ve seen big swings kind of happen in points for Next Gen racing. Which is how crazy the races get. Watkins Glen has been a track that we were good at, the previous two years before last year. Richmond’s kind of a hit-and-miss track for us, and then Daytona, anything can happen. So yeah, we’re not out of it,” Larson told Frontstretch.
There’s a solid basis for such optimism. Point leads have vanished in a single weekend due to the equal opportunity and unpredictable nature of the Next Gen era. The three tracks that lie ahead present very different obstacles: the technical road course at Watkins Glen, where Larson has won twice recently; the short-track chess match at Richmond, where he has struggled; and the wild-card drafting pack at Daytona, where a single crash can wipe out a whole lead.
On the other hand, all three sites have seen good performances from Chase Elliott in the current regular season. The same instability that could harm Larson could also work to Elliott’s advantage. The amount of time Larson has to bridge the deficit might drastically decrease if Elliott falters, whether due to poor strategy, unlucky traffic, or getting involved in accidents. Larson used the mistakes of his competitors to his advantage in 2021; in 2025, the formula might be the same, with Elliott’s each finish having an impact on “Yung Money’s” strategy.
Because of this, winning the regular-season crown is a playoff weapon rather than merely a means of boasting. When it counts most, the 15-point bonus for winning it might make the difference between surviving a bad finish in a cut-off race and having the flexibility to take a calculated risk. Larson’s goal for the next three weeks is to establish the tone and margin for the upcoming battles, not just chasing Elliott.
Larson says Talladega Nights damaged NASCAR’s image, backs Days of Thunder comeback
Although Kyle Larson has nothing against racing films, he feels that one of the most well-known comedies in the category damaged NASCAR’s reputation. Speaking about the movie, he said, “I like the movie. I think it did not do anything good for our sport. I think it turned our sport into like a joke, unfortunately. That has to be one of the most popular movies… but I feel like the rest of the world, that’s what they think about our sport, now,”
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was a box office success and a cultural icon when it was released in 2006. Although its extravagant comedy brought NASCAR to a larger audience, some in the sport, like Larson, have argued that it served to reinforce caricatures rather than highlight the talent and passion of the competition. The relationship between NASCAR and Hollywood has always been complex, alternating between humorous and somber representations, such as in the 1990 classic Days of Thunder.
And Larson indeed pointed out this Tom Cruise classic as his favorite, along with the Senna documentary on Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion also hinted that Days of Thunder could be making a return. “I was with Jeff Gordon the other night, and he’s good friends with Tom [Cruise]… Right when I saw Tom, he was like, ‘We’re doing it, we’ve got to do another Days of Thunder.’” Larson didn’t hesitate when asked if he would want to be part of it. “I would be in it. I would like to be in it,” he said. Given his life story that’s often compared to the lead character Cole Trickle in the movie, it’ll be interesting to see what role Larson could go on to play in the sequel, if he ever gets the opportunity.
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