Kyle Larson is hyper-focused on his status in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, especially during the regular season stretch.
Though he’s paid attention to points in the past, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has become increasingly dedicated to staying up on the week-to-week changes to make sure he’s not falling behind.
“I don’t know if other people are the same way, but I think if you take your eyes off of it too much, then you can get a little careless,” Larson said.
In the years following his 2021 championship, regular season performance has seemed to be the detriment to Larson’s attempts to earn a second title.
“In 2022 and 2023, yes, we were pretty competitive, but we stumbled a lot in the regular season and didn’t finish very high in the regular season points. Then the playoffs were difficult where we were barely kind of squeaking by through some of the rounds,” Larson said.
The nail in the coffin for Larson was his finish at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway ROVAL during the Round of 12 cutoff race in 2022, where he missed out on advancing in the playoffs by a mere three points.
What made it worse was that Larson then won the next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway — a finish that would’ve automatically locked the No. 5 Chevrolet driver into the Championship 4, had he still been in a playoff berth.
“If I could have just finished a couple of spots in the regular season points (in 2022), I would have made it through,” Larson reflected as he sat in the media center at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
He’s not planning to overlook the points anymore, even though he did check a win off his list three weeks ago (Las Vegas) and lock himself into the end-of-year playoffs already.
“It’s what, like 15 points I think, to win the regular season and then it drops by five. I mean that’s like a full race win, so yeah, it’s important to have the best regular season that you can to benefit yourself through the playoffs,” Larson said.
Heading into Sunday’s Echo Park Automotive Grand Prix at COTA, the California native is tied for the points lead with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. Of the two drivers, Larson is the only one with stage wins (two).
His high position in the standings is a reflection of the consistency he’s found the last three weeks, with his victory in Las Vegas, 14th-place finish at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway and top-five effort at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
What’s the objective from here?
“Continue getting good stage points at every race track, or at least having a good shot at the end of the race too. Yeah, it’s just been a goal of mine, is to try and do a better job throughout the regular season. I know we’re only five races in, but it’s been going well, so far. Just have to keep it up,” Larson said.