MADISON, Ill. (AP) — Even as his winless drought stretched on for more than a year and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolets lagged behind his competitors’ Toyotas, Kyle Larson never lost faith in his abilities or trust in his team.
After a timely win in NASCAR’s Chase, Larson is only nine points behind postseason leader Denny Hamlin and within striking distance of a second straight Cup Series title.
Larson vaulted from seventh in the Chase standings to
second with his win Sunday in the Enjoy Illinois 300 outside St. Louis, snapping a string of 51 consecutive races without a victory. It was the longest such stretch for Larson since he joined the powerful Hendrick garage in 2021.
“I can see how on paper or in media’s eyes, or maybe even some competitors’ eyes, that you could doubt us, and I think that’d be reasonable,” said Larson, shrugging off the notion that he could be seen as an underdog during his season of struggles. "You know, we hadn’t won in 51 races, and yeah, we were kind of just mid throughout the season, and not starting as high as we want to be in the Chase.
“So I could see that, but I don’t really view myself as that, and I don’t really feel like, ‘Oh, I’ve got ... I’m going to prove them wrong’ either.”
Larson was encouraged by a competitive showing in the playoff-opening Southern 500, leading a race-high 99 laps before settling for fifth place. He and crew chief Cliff Daniels thought Joey Logano had a better car Sunday at Gateway, but Larson was able to pull off the win by passing Logano on a late restart in regulation and holding him off in overtime.
Despite it being just his first win of the season, compared to four for Hamlin, Larson is in great position heading into the Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he has been particularly strong.
Larson led 284 laps in this year's spring race before finishing third, and even that was a step back from his recent Bristol dominance. He led 462 of 500 in a triumphant 2024 night race and followed that up by leading 411 in his 2025 spring victory.
“We’re just trying to do the best job we can and try to score as many points as we can,” Larson said. “And, I mean, I would love to be nine points ahead (rather) than nine points behind right now. But you know, it’s been a good start to our Chase.”
And a complete 180 from how the season started. Daniels confessed that the Hendrick teams underestimated their gap to the Toyotas, which won five of the first six races, then flailed by trying to do too much in their setups at early races, including Darlington and Phoenix.
“We have learned through those mistakes that we can’t just go overreach on everything every week,” Daniels said. “Like, everything can’t be in question every week. There’s some things that have to be your solid foundation point.”
Jeff Gordon, a four-time Cup Series champion and the current Hendrick vice chairman, credited Larson and his team for continuing to work hard without getting deterred by mistakes or strategic decisions that didn't pan out.
“The thing that gets you down the most, especially when you’ve had success, is not having fast race cars, not having cars capable of of running up front,” Gordon said, relating to his own career. "And I think if anything has probably challenged those guys the most, it’s that.”
Larson, a superstar who dabbled with running in the Indianapolis 500 in past years, said his confidence never wavered despite failing to win a race since May 2025 at Kansas. Plus, despite not winning a race in last year's playoffs, Larson still was consistently strong enough to win the 2025 title.
“I’ve had more fun this year than a lot of years, and we hadn’t won till this point, so I don’t mind the struggle," Larson said, noting the winless stretch never felt that long to him. "I’m not scared of it.”
Now that the results are starting to come, Larson was asked if he's “back.” He quickly dismissed any comparisons to 2021, when he won the championship, or 2023, when he won four times and finished second in the playoffs.
“But we’ve been definitely building to get back to Victory Lane," Larson said. "I don’t know if we’re quite yet where we can go dominate like we have in the past, but you know, a day like (Sunday) definitely gives you confidence leading into a track where we know we can go dominate.”
___
See AP’s full auto racing coverage here
