Sunday’s win at Kansas Speedway further cemented Kyle Larson as the most dominant driver in the first third of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series. Through 12 races, Larson — who replaced Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron at the top of the regular season standings — now has three wins, eight top-fives, and nine top-10 finishes.
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Only Christopher Bell has as many wins, but he’s in third place, 85 points off the lead. With 14 more races remaining before the 10-race playoffs, Larson is the early favorite to reach the championship round and potentially capture his second Cup title to go along with his 2021 triumph.
But we’ve seen this movie before — and Larson ended up with second billing then. Well, sixth billing, actually. Let’s dive deeper.
Even though he had a series-high six wins last season, Larson still failed to qualify for the Championship 4, and finished sixth in the final standings. Even the eventual 2024 champion, Joey Logano, had only four wins, seven top-fives, and 13 top-10s. So how can Larson overcome last year’s shortfall?
Some critics said Logano essentially lucked into his third championship, and that if Larson had reached the final round, Logano would not have earned his third championship.
According to NASCAR Insights, Larson has been a man on a mission of late. A NASCAR Insights post on X stated, “Kansas marked the 32nd NASCAR Cup Series race where Kyle Larson led at least 100 laps. In his first 16 races leading 100 laps, Larson won just 3. In the most recent 16, he’s gone to victory lane 12 times.”
But wait, there’s more, again per NASCAR Insights, “Kyle Larson wins at Kansas, his 3rd win in 12 races of 2025. This is the quickest in a season Larson has ever won 3 races in a season.”
However, the most incredible stat of all is this. On all 1.5-mile tracks in the Next Gen car, Larson is the overwhelming leader with 1,395 laps led, more than twice as many as second-placed Christopher Bell (614), followed by William Byron (548).
Sure, anything can happen in the next 14 regular season races. But right now it’s pretty hard to bet against Larson. Heck, given the season he’s had so far, it would not be a surprise to see Larson not only complete both halves of “The Double” — the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 — but potentially also win one or both races.
Let’s not forget that Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of the 600, is also right in Larson’s sweet spot as a 1.5-mile oval. In 14 starts there (not including the Roval road course), the 32-year-old has one win, two top-fives, and six top-10s. At the Roval, Larson has two wins in six starts.
After falling short of the title despite his outstanding 2024 campaign, is it any wonder that Larson is a man on a mission this season? He sure seems more determined than he has ever been, and that isn’t good news for his rivals.
