Last Sunday, the Southern 500 winded up the 2024 Cup Series regular-season championship race. Despite racing incredibly well this campaign, Kyle Larson missed out on winning the title by a single point to 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Given his efforts and performance, it was nothing short of agonizing. That said, the Hendrick Motorsports superstar recently took the responsibility of not capitalizing on his chances.

In the Darlington race on Sunday, Larson finished fourth whereas Tyler Reddick ended P10. However, the result wasn’t enough to stop the 23XI Racing driver from registering his first-ever regular season title win. Unfortunately, the margins could not get slimmer as he finished with 859 points in comparison to Reddick’s 860.

Kyle Larson feels the 2024 regular season has been his best in the Next-Gen era

The Cup Series racing has drastically changed in the Next-Gen era. While passing cars has been a challenge, excelling consistently has been an issue for many. Fortunately, Kyle Larson isn’t one of them. The Hendrick Motorsports driver has enjoyed a good run, especially in the 2024 campaign. Safe to say, Larson provided a complete performance except for the title victory.

In the 25 starts he made this year, no other driver has led more laps (1089) than Kyle Larson. Not only that, along with Christopher Bell, he remains the joint-top holder when it comes to stage wins (10). If that wasn’t enough to show his dominance, his four wins (the highest by a driver this season), speak volumes of his incredible efforts on the track.

No wonder he spoke positively of the time he has had in the 2024 season so far. Speaking to Fox Sports journalist Bob Pockrass, Larson said, “Overall, I think our regular season for the next-gen era probably was as good as it’s been.” Having said that, it is interesting to notice where it went wrong for the #5 driver despite having such a stellar campaign.

Kyle Larson said, “I crashed a little bit more than I wanted to in the second half of the regular season, so that was a bummer, and I missed out on a lot of opportunities because of that with fast race cars. First half went great, second half went typical Kyle Larson.” Some might point out how Larson’s preference to participate in the Indianapolis 500 hampered his regular-season title chances.

While it is debatable, Larson’s results in the second half played a key role in Tyler Reddick winning. In the second half, the HMS driver finished 30 or higher three times. With a P34, P39, and P34 finish at Iowa, Chicago, and Michigan respectively, Kyle Larson unfortunately took a hit on the points front. Given the expectations he has set among the fans, a more productive finish in either of these three races should have sufficed for a title win.

That said, Larson believes he has the chance to do well in the playoffs as do others. In his words, everyone controls their own destiny and dismissed the idea of how that could help only him. The 32-year-old said, “I think if you can go out there and your team as a whole can execute well, do a good job from start to finish, not make many mistakes, I think you can control your own destiny. Sure, with us having the amount of points that we do, great, but everybody I think controls their own destiny.”

Most certainly, it is exciting to see what happens in the playoffs. That said, Larson does stand a good chance of going all the way with the right execution. At least, Jeff Gordon believes so.

Jeff Gordon dissects an effective plan for Kyle Larson going into the playoffs

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With the regular season disappointment very fresh, Kyle Larson must be inching to do well in the playoffs. Having said that, it is a tricky run for him given the schedule in the remaining 10 races. Larson’s struggle has been staying out of the chaos on tracks like Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. While survival is the key, Hendrick Motorsports’s Vice Chairman Jeff Gordon explained how the #5 driver could go all the way in the playoffs.

Being a four-time Cup Series winner himself, Gordon recognized the threat Larson possesses on the track. As reported by HendrickMotorsports.com, he said, “When they’ve had great speed and execute, I don’t think there’s a better team bringing a bigger threat than they are.” However, Gordon believed that the key to Larson winning the championship would remain in surviving and reaching Round 3 of the playoffs.

In his opinion, “That round is so strong for him. You’ve got Homestead(-Miami Speedway), Martinsville (Speedway), and (Las) Vegas (Motor Speedway). Homestead and Vegas, I think, are two of his best tracks. If he gets to that round, I feel like it’s a near lock – especially with the bonus points he brings to the rounds – to get to Phoenix.”

As mentioned earlier, the toughest task for Kyle Larson would be performing well in Atlanta and Talladega. The reason is that Larson has at least one win in all the remaining eight tracks. In fact, 12 out of his 27 Cup Series wins have come at those venues. What will also help the #5 team will be the 35-point cushion they have between them and the playoff cutline.

With crew chief Cliff Daniels and Kyle Larson performing so well in tandem this season, Jeff Gordon believes it is all about minimizing their mistakes now. Gordon said, “I can promise you (execution is) top of mind for Cliff Daniels and maybe also, Kyle Larson. This car, the series right now with the level of competition, there’s just no gimmes, no guarantees. You’ve got to be mistake-free through as many of these races and rounds as possible if you’re going to win a championship.”

Well, it is crucial how Larson steps up in the playoffs. A bright start in the Round of 16 can certainly ease the pressure on him. That said, his performance at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday remains pivotal to his championship ambitions.