Kyle Larson says a third NASCAR Cup Series title might be easier to explain than his 2025 one if he can finish the job this year. He spent part of last winter explaining in detail how he’d won the title after Denny Hamlin had pretty much had the Phoenix finale all to himself. He feels his 2026 Chase has actually given a much clearer case for the No. 5 team.
Larson remembers those post-title interviews on Saturday at Martinsville. “With every news outlet, you had to explain how I’m the champion when Denny Hamlin looked like the champion,” describing the public perception that followed a championship he won under NASCAR’s format at the time.
Kyle Larson’s 2026 Chase Has Changed the Conversation
In the 2025 finale, Hamlin started from pole at Phoenix, led 208 laps, and was still leading when William Byron crashed with three laps to go. The caution came out, and the race went to overtime, which changed the strategy. Larson hadn’t led a single lap, but crew chief Cliff Daniels went with a two-tire call to gain track position. Larson finished P3, ahead of the other Championship 4 drivers, with Hamlin finishing sixth. And that finishing order gave Larson his second Cup title.
Hamlin’s control of the race before the late caution fueled the ongoing debate about the winner-take-all format. Larson knows perfectly well why people keep asking him how the championship was actually won so late. At Saturday’s Chevrolet media availability, he said a 2026 title would be a far better and easier-to-explain title to have won.
He also said many people viewed the 2025 outcome as a case of luck, even though his team was fully in line with the rules and took the opportunity when the race changed.
Larson said, “This year, if we happen to win, it feels much better and just easier to explain. I think we’ll be remembered for good reasons rather than last year, I feel like everybody will remember it, but not for the right reasons because in a lot of people’s eyes, it looked like we got lucky. With this Chase, there hasn’t really been much luck. I mean, sure, Talladega could be viewed as luck, but so could win superspeedway win.”
However, this season looks pretty different for Larson. NASCAR’s return to a 10-race Chase has seen Larson build his lead through consistent Chase results. He’s finished inside the top 6 in each of the first six Chase races and has picked up wins at World Wide Technology Raceway and Kansas. His average finish over that six-race period was 2.83, the second-best six-race opening to a postseason in Cup history.
Phoenix was the only real interruption. Larson was struggling with the car, had a flat tire, and finished 34th, which reduced his championship lead to five points going into Talladega. One week later, he won at Talladega, scored 71 points, and left with a 73-point lead over Hamlin. Bell is 74 points behind, and Briscoe is 79 points behind entering Martinsville.
That body of work is Larson’s explanation of the two different championship scenarios. The 2025 format would have compressed the title decider into a single final race among four drivers. One caution could change everything in minutes. The current format rewards performance over 10 races, so a big late-season lead gives the outsiders a much clearer route from the postseason results to the championship.
Larson is still in no position to talk as if the championship is already in the bag. He told the media he doesn’t expect to go to Martinsville and win it, and he’s still very much in favor of the approach that’s been used to build the lead. NASCAR said 59 points on Sunday would put the title beyond all other competitors’ reach, although Larson would still have to start the Homestead race to bag the title.
Saturday solidified his position without removing the challenge. Hamlin took the Martinsville pole, Larson qualified third. Hamlin has six Cup wins at the track and led 292 of the 400 laps there this spring, before Chase Elliott won. Larson finished ninth in that race, so his closest rival heading into Sunday at one of his best tracks.
Daniels has kept the No. 5 team very much focused on the weekend. He said Hamlin could lead all 500 laps on Sunday, and Larson would still have to go out and have a good day. The points cushion takes some of the pressure off to match Hamlin lap for lap, but anything mechanical, anything in the way of contact, or another Phoenix-type problem could quickly change the championship situation.
Kyle Larson won his first title under the 2021 elimination format, won his second under that same format in 2025, and now has the opportunity to do it again under the Chase. No Cup driver has won back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson completed his five in a row from 2006 to 2010.