“It Hasn’t Been Done in the Playoff Elimination Era Ever” – Here’s How Kyle Larson Hopes to Create History at the Phoenix Raceway in 2022

Dream big, aim high. It seems that the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is all about this philosophy. Dreaming of making history, Kyle Larson has his eyes set on the 2022 Cup Series trophy. And if the Hendrick Motorsports driver is able to realize his dream, he will be the first to win two back-to-back championships, after Jimmie Johnson.

The 2022 Cup Series Final at Phoenix Raceway will be held on November 6, 2022. And Kyle Larson hopes to clinch his second consecutive victory that Sunday. Apart from Jimmie Johnson, who has won 5 consecutive championship titles from 2006 to 2010, no other NASCAR driver has been able to achieve this feat in the recent history of the sport.

Determined to win the title and excited about creating history, Larson recently talked about his thoughts to Forbes. He said; “It would be amazing. Everybody wants to win one championship. Being able to do that, you don’t want to stop. It would be great to go back-to-back this year.”

Further, he explained why this would mean so much. He said; “It hasn’t been done in the playoff elimination era ever. It hasn’t been done since Jimmie Johnson went on his five-year-in-a-row streak.”

And continued, “It would be pretty neat to do it. I have confidence in the people on our team to do it and we have the parts and pieces to do it. It should be fun to compete.”

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Looking at Larson’s 2022 season, it seems that the driver would have to work a lot to achieve the feat.

How Kyle Larson performed in 2022?

Kyle Larson is the defending Cup Series champion. However, this year he could not live up to the expectations he set for himself last year. In 2021, Larson bagged a total of 10 wins. Whereas, in 2022, he has only managed to bag 2 wins till now.

Although he qualified for the playoffs with 2019 points, there is still a lot for him to work on to reach the top of the points table. Although, Larson revealed that he was not thinking much about it in an interview before the playoffs. He said, “I don’t know… I haven’t put much thought into that. Obviously when you look at the points; I think last year, we had 40-something, maybe closer to 50 playoff points, as we headed into the playoffs. This year, I think we only have 19.”

“It already adds a little bit more pressure on each race knowing that you need to go get stage points, stage wins, race wins, all of that, to help out your post-regular season.”

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Further, he explained that he feels it is a good opportunity for him and his team. Hoping to score a good amount of playoff points initially, Larson feels that it would put them in a better spot as they reach the last couple of rounds.