Kyle Larson clinched his third NASCAR championship on Sunday in Miami, becoming the 11th driver in series history to win back-to-back titles.
The 34-year-old driver’s path to the championship was anything but smooth. Entering the Chase in September, Larson had not recorded a single win all season, instead posting a string of inconsistent results: 12 finishes outside the top 20 paired with 14 finishes inside the top 10.
“It’s really cool. The way our season went makes this one extra rewarding,” Larson told OutKick.
By his own account, the season looked like a lost cause for much of the year. “We weren’t really that good,” Larson admitted, saying it took months for him and his Hendrick Motorsports team to understand what his new car needed. “By late spring, I was thinking, ‘OK, we can write this season off for a championship. Let’s just try to build to be better for next year.'”
He said he leaned on the familiar racing cliché of patience, taking the season week by week. “But it was really true for us this year,” he said.
The Turnaround
Once the calendar turned to the postseason stretch, Larson’s results flipped. He finished fifth at Darlington before winning the Enjoy Illinois 300 the following week. A second-place run at Bristol came next, followed by a win in the Hollywood Casino 400 and another second-place finish in Las Vegas. Three weeks later, he added a win at Talladega.
“Then it snowballed. We kept getting good run after good run, which turned into a couple of wins. Suddenly, we were leading the points, and it was, ‘Wow, this happened quickly,'” Larson said.
“That’s what makes me most proud about this season. From start to finish, it was a lot of hard work and grinding, and all four of our Hendrick Motorsports teams coming together. It was rewarding for sure—probably one of the most rewarding championships we’ve had,” he said.
Larson noted that his team won the title without having the fastest car at any point in the season. “At no point in the year did we have the fastest car, but we had the best team,” he said.
Eyes on a Three-Peat
With his second consecutive championship secured, Larson is now aiming to become just the third driver in NASCAR history to win three titles in a row.
“I think we have a great foundation as a team. We proved that this year… I think you just carry on with what we’ve built to this point. Obviously, you want to fine-tune things and get the cars better. You fine-tune your people, but we have a really good base. You stay true to our process and see if we can three-peat,” Larson said.
