Who is going to win the Daytona 500 in 2025? Is Kyle Larson up for the task? Does he have what it takes to survive on the superspeedway? The Daytona 500 offers bumper-to-bumper racing on superspeedways with its aggressive nature throughout the championship. The traditional superspeedways are known for their chaotic incidents on track making it difficult for drivers to overtake. Whether it is a wide pass or a speeding run across the pack the overall forte of the race is tougher than the competitors trying to secure a spot in the championship. Kyle Larson is one of the drivers who has struggled through time to perform on a superspeedway. At the same time, Kyle Larson is one of the most accomplished drivers across various motorsport disciplines.

The prestigious Daytona 500 event considered the crown jewel of the NASCAR Cup Series is all set to take over with momentum. The driver of Hendrick Motorsports is driven to earn his place at the “Great American Race” with a victory to add to his outstanding career. His recent performance at the dirt track of the Tulsa shootout highlighted the harsh unpredictability of the track. Owen Larson shared a few pointers for his dad after his big win at Darrell Gwynn’s fishing tournament.

Father-son champion mindset and dynamics for the “Great American Race”

When asked about his Dad’s chances of winning the Daytona 500 after the fishing event, Owen Larson shared his perception and insight for Kyle Larson to succeed he said, “He probably has to try really hard because he’s not good at superspeedways.” Reflecting on his areas of improvement as a driver he added “If he tried harder.” Well, Larson has crown jewel wins at Brickyard, Coca-Cola 600, and the Southern 500. But the Harley J. Earl Trophy has always eluded him.

Larson’s best finish at the Daytona 500 is P7, which came during his racing days at Chip Ganassi Racing. In the Next-Gen era, last year’s P11 is the closest he’s come to winning the biggest race of the NASCAR season. So Owen does have a point. Well, he’s found some joy at Talladega with two top 5 finishes, he’s just not consistent with his results every year. While the superspeedways have been a tough nut for Larson to crack, he isn’t too concerned about this shortcoming.

“Things are going well, but… it’s a c——. It does, it definitely doesn’t affect confidence or anything, but, um, I don’t know, it just seems like things are going well for me right now. And, uh, it would be neat to, you know, check off another box that’s kind of, you know, wound me for so long.” Larson said this after the win at Volusia Speedway Park. Given the unpredictable nature of speedway racing, it’s just hard for drivers to control their destiny. Even three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin has had a tough time trying to find his way back to victory lane at the speedways.

Well, it seems like Kyle Larson couldn’t get this monkey off his back as once again he couldn’t make any major gains during the Daytona 500 qualifiers and Duel races.

Larson was unable to overcome the Daytona trouble once again

Track position is the king on superspeedways, especially at Daytona. During the timed laps Larson’s No. 5 Chevy wasn’t the fastest to grab the pole. Larson was placed 10th as he saw Chase Briscoe from JGR clock the fastest lap around the 2.5-mile tri-oval. So, the job was to be done during the Duel races and we all know how sketchy things can get, leading to a big one or a crash. And that’s exactly what happened with Larson as he was caught in a wreck during the second round of Duels.

On the last lap of the race, rookie Shane van Gisbergen tried to make the move on the outside. Little did he know he wasn’t clear and made contact with the No. 20 Toyota of Christopher Bell. The contact saw the No. 88 Chevy get flung to the outside wall and then came down hitting the oncoming traffic. This led to a big crash that collected Anthony Alfredo, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Kyle Larson, BJ McLeod, and Cody Ware. Talk about bad luck, Larson once again found himself on the receiving end of things.

The HMS star will start Sunday’s Daytona 500 race placed 22nd, and he will need more than just luck to even have a shot at winning the crown jewel event.