29 Cup Series wins, 1 Cup Series Championship but one massive blemish on his record. Yung Money’s luck on superspeedways hasn’t been the best. Sure, his Atlanta finish brought up some relief with P3, but it’s a blemish nonetheless. After all, winning on some of the fastest race tracks in the world is the mark of greatness right? And winning the greatest track in NASCAR is an even bigger honor. Yet, Kyle Larson has failed, and he is feeling jealous with William Byron’s success at the tracks amidst his pile of failures.

To add salt to his wounds, Larson’s teammate escaped a wreck at the season-opener to win the crown jewel event for the second year running. Could the 2021 Cup Series winner be fighting a mental block against superspeedways?

Kyle Larson reflects on his failure at Daytona

It wasn’t the start Kyle Larson was hoping for. After six wins in 2024, expectations were high from the Hendrick Motorsports driver ahead of a brand-new Cup Series campaign. While superspeedways have been a kryptonite for ‘Yung Money’ for years now, few anticipated just how badly the No. 5 Chevy driver would fare at Daytona International Speedway. He started the race in 22nd place, led no laps, and was involved in the incident on Lap 197 that sent Ryan Preece airborne.

When the checkered flag was waved, Kyle Larson finished in 20th place, the worst result amongst the Hendrick Motorsports drivers. Reflecting on the race, the California native said on the Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie podcast, “We were up towards the mix of it but Daytona, I was just mad afterward. Every move I made, which wasn’t many moves was the wrong one. And then you just get gridlocked at the back.” Envying his teammate’s fate, Larson went on to say, “Then you see guys like William (Byron) who was right next to me, misses the wreck by this much every time. Why can’t I line myself up in the right lane ever? There’s more that goes in there than luck for sure.”

For Yung Money, watching Byron net the 2025 Daytona 500 couldn’t have been easy. Having not won at a superspeedway in any of his Cup Series victories, seeing your teammate win the most prestigious NASCAR race in consecutive years has clearly left him yearning for more. Kyle Larson’s superspeedway struggles are well known. It’s an aspect of his racecraft that can be considered a rare weakness, an Achilles heel of sorts for a racer regarded as a “generational talent” by Hall of Famer Mark Martin. The season-opener at the ‘World Center of Racing’ highlighted his glaring weakness, making it evident for all to see.

For his mentor, Jeff Gordon, succeeding at Daytona International Speedway is something he knows all too well, having won on the track multiple times in his career. Now serving as vice-president for Hendrick Motorsports, the 53-year-old shed light on Larson’s superspeedway struggles, going on to say, “I think now I’m starting to see it’s getting in his (Larson) head.” For a racer accustomed to excelling in the NASCAR Cup Series, accepting mediocrity at arguably the biggest stage of the sport doesn’t come easily, and the California native is hard on himself to improve at Daytona and Talladega.

While Atlanta Motor Speedway isn’t as long as Daytona or Talladega, it runs like a track that is longer than 2 miles. Kyle Larson showed noticeable improvement at the 2025 AmBetter Health 400, winning Stage 2 and leading 12 laps, finishing narrowly behind Carson Hocevar and winner Christopher Bell in the second race of the season. There are some visible signs of improvement for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, but he won’t be satisfied until he gets his superspeedway triumph.

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Larson compares Atlanta Motor Speedway to other drafting tracks

Kyle Larson didn’t always struggle on superspeedways. Early on in his career, the racer had managed to secure plenty of solid performances on drafting tracks, only to encounter uncontrollable factors such as wrecks and fuel mileage problems. He was on the verge of winning the 2017 Daytona 500, only to run out of fuel in the final lap which resulted in Kyle Busch securing the win instead. However, it has been an uphill climb since then, as the California native has crashed out in such tracks a staggering 18 times in 48 starts.

Sharing his thoughts about finishing third in Atlanta, Larson said, “This is totally different than Daytona and Talladega. I do have more confidence when we come here even though this is my first finish. Just because I think handling comes into play and it’s not just like luck of the lane that you get in necessarily, where Daytona was a lot of that last week.” The Hendrick Motorsports driver concluded by saying, “All of us are in more control here so it’s more fun. Daytona and Talladega su-k, like they su-k.”

Given Kyle Larson’s poor record at superspeedways, it’s not surprising that his failure on such tracks has created a mental block in his head. However, the 2021 Cup Series winner has accomplished a lot in his illustrious stock car racing career and shouldn’t let a certain weakness in his race craft weigh him down. When Larson eventually rides into the sunset, he will be remembered as one of the most talented and dominant drivers in NASCAR history, while his failure at superspeedways will be long forgotten.