“I don’t want to say that there’s anything wrong with the format,” this was Kyle Larson’s admission after missing out on the championship race at Martinsville last year. Despite being the most consistent driver throughout the year, he just couldn’t make the transfer. And while, questions were looming on the format of the playoffs, the HMS star looked to his own.
The start of the 2025 season was promising after Larson bagged two top 5s at Atlanta and Phoenix. However, his big break came at the mile-and-a-half track at Homestead Miami. He didn’t have the best car, far from it. Starting the race on 14th, he wasn’t on par with the likes of Ryan Blaney or Bubba Wallace, but he worked his way up front and capitalized on the mishaps of his rivals.
This was his 30th win of the career, but it felt extra special. On a day where he was up against the ropes, he found the courage and resilience to bounce back and grab the checkered flag. “Proud of myself. Proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty hard work there today.” This is exactly the mindset that separates good drivers from champions. Kevin Harvick was in complete awe of how Larson handled the curveball thrown at him last weekend and sent out a warning to the rest of the field.
Larson’s Gritty Triumph Shakes the Field
“So very dangerous a day for the rest of the field to see Kyle Larson starting to manage a car in a situation that’s not fast, not tear up his car, not make a mistake, and win the race. That to me is something we haven’t seen Kyle Larson do.” Harvick said this on the Happy Hour Podcast.
Ideally, the No. 5 Chevy is that class of the field, especially on the intermediate racetracks. But for some reason, the setup at Homestead wasn’t the best for Larson. Starting the race from 14th, he had to overcome pit road troubles, a damaged racecar, and, of course, a little bit of luck to find himself in a spot to win the race. Ryan Blaney was emerging as the front-runner in the final stage, but engine trouble resulted in his third straight DNF.
This was the clear indication for Larson to go all in, as things were falling into place for him. After working his way around the No. 23 car, he ran side by side with Alex Bowman, and a slip-up by the No. 48 car allowed the No. 5 to make his way to the lead. Larson held on to the lead and beat Bowman by 1.205 seconds to bag his second career win at Homestead.
It wasn’t a dominating win by the HMS star driver, but it still meant so much for him, especially after missing out on matching Kyle Busch’s record. “Just a lot of gritty, hard work today between damage on pit road, qualifying bad, bad restarts. All that stuff. Just super pumped. One of the coolest wins of my Cup career because of all the heartbreak I’ve had here. The heartbreak yesterday. Just keep my head down and keep digging feels really good.”
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JULY 21: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, poses with the Brickyard 400 trophy at the yard of bricks after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 21, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
Larson set out with a plan to win all three races at Homestead weekend. This is something only Kyle Busch has been able to achieve. Having won the Truck Series race coming from behind, the HMS driver ran into trouble with a late race restart in the Xfinity event. While a clean sweep wasn’t on the cards, he certainly finished strong by opening his account for the 2025 season.
It wasn’t just Kevin Harvick who raved about Kyle Larson; even his rival, Denny Hamlin, joined the conversation by tipping his hat on the sheer display of talent and grit in Miami.
Hamlin believes Larson goes the extra mile to contend for a win
Coming at a track like Homestead, everyone understands that hugging the outside wall leads to more momentum on the straightaways. We saw this application in practical use last year when Tyler Reddick pulled off a slingshot move on the very last lap to snatch a win from Ryan Blaney. But everyone in the garage knows this trick by now, and with Next Gen cars, it’s even tricky to hide your secrets.
Despite knowing the tricks, very few drivers are brave enough to run the wall aggressively like Larson did. Even the broadcasters Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick lost count on how many times the No. 5 bumped the wall. “What Kyle does better than the rest is he’s just higher on entry. So he’s getting the steering wheel angle out of the car earlier to carry more middle speed, more exit speed. He’s able to approach the corner with maximum throttle… that’s where I think he’s still better than the rest of the field.” Hamlin said this on the Actions Detrimental podcast.
Larson is doing more than just pushing the limits. Imagine if he finds the raw speed that No. 12 car had on tracks like Texas, Kansas and Charlotte. Harvick wasn’t bluffing when he sent out the warning to the rest of the competition. At this pace and level of commitment, the No. 5 team might rake up multiple race wins before heading into the playoffs.
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