By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
UPDATE: Kyle Larson was advanced to a second-place finish following the disqualification of Ryan Preece.
Kyle Larson once went seven years with only a single top-10 finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
That’s 13 starts with one top 10.
And prior to a year ago, the 2021 Cup Series champion had only one top-five in 19 career starts.
Now, the Hendrick Motorsports man has managed to press together back-to-back top fives, finishing fourth in the fall and besting his career-best ‘Dega run with a third place Sunday afternoon.
Though the results have not been near as flashy as most tracks on the calendar, Larson believes it was execution that has been finally producing those consistent finishes.
“I feel like I’ve always performed pretty decent [at Talladega], at least at Hendrick,” Larson said. “I was happy about the day, it was great top to bottom. First stage to the final stage.”
To the roar of the Alabama crowd, Larson did score a win in Stage 2, marking his series-leading fifth of 2025. Partnered with the third-place finish, Larson left Sunday with the most points earned at 52 of a possible 60.
“I was happy about all that and had another really good shot at potentially winning at the end,” he said.
“Every race is a little different. Even today was different from last fall, different from the Daytona 500. You have to learn on the fly a little bit. It seemed like the Toyotas had a strategy to lead the bottom lane and get the pace up [early in Stage 1]. That kept us all from being three and four wide.
“At that point, it migrates back to what it used to be early last year and before that. You’re still saving [fuel] back there, but you’re not jammed up as much. Then, we could execute good green-flag stops.”
Larson closed in slightly to Hendrick teammate Byron for the point lead, now down to 42 points.
“The day worked out for us,” he said. “I’m just pleased with that and pleased with the performance of the car.”