Since his second double-duty bid, Kyle Larson had been mired in a slump, but last weekend’s race might have signaled a turning point. Starting 25th at Dover, Larson clawed his way to a fourth-place finish. He cracked the top-10 by the end of Stage 1 and surged to fifth by Stage 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes this performance could mark the start of Larson’s resurgence as summer wears on.
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On his latest episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Dale Jr. said, “This weekend I thought was a great time for Larson to kind of get back to doing what he does best, looked like for a while. I mean, he struggled like everybody else with dirty air, trying to work his way through the field, but eventually, his car had pretty decent speed.”
Referencing data from NASCAR Insights, which tracks passing, speed, restarts, and pit performance, Dale Jr. noted that Larson’s passing average, once among the top five this season, had dropped to 12th overall, a dip that coincided with his struggles following the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 runs.
At Dover, however, Larson led the field in passing. “And I feel like that’s a sign to me that they’re regrouping and getting back to the basics. And Indy might be the race where he goes out there and jams the flag,” Junior added.
Earnhardt also addressed the toll Larson’s second double-duty attempt may have taken. Balancing logistics, travel, sponsor obligations, interviews, and photoshoots proved more taxing than anticipated, disrupting Larson’s rhythm and confidence. The grueling schedule left the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports driver unable to find the consistency needed to keep the team on track.
According to Dale Jr., if the schedule had featured more oval races instead of road courses, Larson would have likely found his rhythm much earlier. However, with his recent success in sprint cars, underlined by a $100,000 win at High Limit Racing’s Thursday Joker’s Jackpot, Junior believes the No. 5 driver has started to regain his confidence.
Before his fourth-place result at Dover, Larson’s previous five Cup finishes were 35th, 13th, 17th, 7th, and 36th. As last year’s Brickyard 400 winner, Earnhardt believes Larson has a strong shot at reclaiming victory this week and will enter Indianapolis as one of the clear favorites.
