“Regular Season Championship Isn’t Out of the Question” – With Only 6 Races Remaining, HMS Driver Still Optimistic About the Championship

Looking at this season’s points table so far, it’s hard to suggest a regular-season championship contender at Hendrick Motorsports other than William Byron. The successor to Jeff Gordon’s iconic #24 has been in the form of his life, fighting for the championship at the top of the table with Martin Truex Jr. But one driver whose campaign has gone silent over the last few months is Kyle Larson.

Speaking about his chances to gain a higher position on the table in a post-qualifying press conference, Larson reveals his idea of making the season better with only a handful of races remaining. The 2021 champion’s words reaffirm the community’s faith in his talents as a driver over the years.

Kyle Larson says he could end up fighting for the regular-season title

Kyle Larson had a great outing at the Pocono 400 qualifying race and will start Sunday’s race in third. But yet again, the only two drivers starting ahead of him in the coming race will be title contenders William Byron and Martin Truex Jr. In this battle of attrition that has gone on so far in the season, Larson has lost a lot of momentum after securing his spot in the playoffs.

“I think all of us want playoff points and get with victories, come with that point so you want to win. I would love to just gain points obviously.” said the No. 5 Chevy speaking on the status of their team’s motives this season.

But things could also have been slightly different for Larson this season. The #5 Camaro driver has nine top-5 finishes this season, the highest for a driver in the Cup Series this season, but just two wins. But his rivals have kept stacking wins. To look at it, Byron has a series-high four wins this season and is only one short of Larson in the top 5. This says a lot about Larson’s difficulties with finishing the race at the top of the pack this season.

Kyle Larson said, “I think you know what I think. We’re like eight or something in regular season points but you know, third or second even is within reach. You know, if we go on a year or the next sample races you know, even a regular-season championship isn’t out of the question. But with each position, we gain a regular season point, and another playoff point for the playoffs so just would love to get some clean races in here I feel like we’ve been doing a good job of that the last month and just need to keep getting stage points and hopefully some stage wins and some race wins along the way.”

An honest approach and performing up to his expected level will be key to Larson’s title charge. As for his caliber with the steering wheel, one can take notes about it from his 2021 championship-winning season.

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Larson is looking forward to winning at Pocono

Kyle Larson’s championship-winning race in 2021 at Phoenix was a nail-biting affair. But refusing to give up until the race ended, Larson finally managed to salvage a championship out of it. And now he looks to make a similar turnaround and aim for the regular-season championship. The fandom, for one, is surely aware of Larson’s capabilities and has stood behind him through thick and thin.

But being 8th in the standings, there is a lot of work to do. And with the Pocono race in sight, Kyle Larson will look to end his winless run at the venue as well. On being asked about his familiarity, affinity, or discontent with the track, he says to Fox Sports,

““It is a place I enjoy, and ran pretty decent there my whole career. And the win has kind of eluded us but we will keep pushing at it, and hopefully, get it done.”

Further he reflects on how the crew would look to char their course to prepare for a championship bid as he says, “I would say we are not where we want to be in points but as far as car speed and all of that, we have been really strong. We have had some DNFs just from hard racing and things that have happened but we have challenged for a lot more wins in half of the races.”

With 6 DNFs this season, those races have cost him a bag of points. At the same time, the crisis for points and playoff qualification continues for Hendrick Motorsports.

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