Kyle Larson is a driver who has every right to be mad at the current NASCAR Cup Series playoff format. He was the most dominant driver on the field for a large part of the 2024 season and still failed to capture the title due to the intricacies of the format. While he hasn’t been openly critical of it in a harsh way so far, he wasn’t able to help it in a recent interview.
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He said to his team media, “If anything, I just think the format, in a way, devalues a championship. Especially in the Next-Gen era. So, I think obviously you’d like to win the most races and win the championship and all that, but I think winning six races, that’s extremely tough to do, and we were a factor in many more than that.”
Larson reached victory lane six times, led 1,699 laps, secured 15 top-5 finishes, and had an average starting rate of 8.8. All these numbers were the best in the league last year. The only thing that let him down was his performance in the Round of 8 races. Understandably, his head is not wrapped around the disappointment yet.
He added, “You led the series in a lot of categories, most all the categories, so, yeah, it was a little disappointing to not get the chance to race for a championship at Phoenix, but at the same point, I understand the format.” Save for the lack of a title, Larson was the best driver of the year by every metric and he ought to be proud of it.
Larson’s 2024 season is one of his best performances in the Cup Series
The issue for the No. 5 team in the Round of 8 came down to a lack of stage points. He managed to secure just one in Las Vegas and did not secure any in Homestead-Miami. This abysmal outcome in a crucial stage of the season did not help him when he went to Martinsville for the penultimate race of the year.
However, he was at peace with things by the time the finale went down in Phoenix. He said, “I really wasn’t that upset during the week of Phoenix because I knew no matter the result, we were going to end the season with the most wins. And to me, these days, that’s as important as winning a championship.”
The No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team has now decided to let the past stay in the past. All eyes look forward to the 2025 season and Larson reaffirmed that his crew will be on the hunt once again when the playoffs begin this time around. They just need to replicate their dominance from last year in the first 26 races for starters.
