Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are among the favorites to win the 2024 Cup Series championship. They have been battling each other consistently on the number of wins, top-5s, top-10s, and other categories. One other front that has them at each other’s heels is the number of laps they’ve led so far. The stat presents a better picture of who has been the more dominant driver.
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After 22 races, Hamlin has led 772 laps and Larson has led 762 laps. Never before has there been such a close contest between these two drivers. This is why these numbers are bound to make for an interesting watch over the next 14 races. Despite leading less number of laps and making one less race appearance, Larson sits at the top of the points table with a 43-point lead over Hamlin.
Notably, the Hendrick Motorsports superstar has been the driver with the most laps led in two seasons before. The first of them was in 2021 – the year he won his Cup Series championship. He led a staggering 2,581 laps en route to the title. The second time he put his name on the books was in 2023 when he led 1,127 laps. Hamlin, though, has never been one to be atop on laps led in recent times.
This year could potentially be the Joe Gibbs Racing star’s best opportunity yet to do so. The season in which he led the most laps over the last ten years was in 2021. He cruised ahead of the others for 1,502 laps and still fell short of Larson by a thousand laps or so. The drivers will continue hunting each other at Richmond when the action returns after the Olympic break.
Other drivers who’ve been the drivers with the most laps led in more than one season are Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. The former led 2,137 laps in 2014 – the year he won his first and only Cup Series championship. He followed that up with 2,294 leading laps in 2015 but failed to win the title. He retired at the end of the 2023 season after a long stint with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Truex Jr. is set to retire at the end of the ongoing season. He led the most laps in 2016 and 2017 consecutively. The second run, with 2,253 leading laps, helped him to a Cup Series title. He has led 461 laps this season and sits seventh on the points table. He hasn’t secured a victory yet, making his playoff spot one to be determined on points at the end of the regular season.
