Kyle Larson Unstoppable At Hendrick

Everybody knew Kyle Larson was going to win races once he started driving Rick Hendrick's cars.

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, poses for photos in Victory Lane after winning the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube NASCAR Cup Series race on March 7, 2021 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Speer/LVMS via Icon Sportswire)

But this? This looks like a driver capable of chasing down the modern-era record of 13 wins in a season set in 1975 by Richard Petty and tied in 1998 by Larson's childhood idol Jeff Gordon.

His victory Sunday night in the All-Star race at Texas doesn't count in the win column, but it earned Larson a $1 million payout and should have sent fear through everyone else in the field. It was his third consecutive trip to victory lane, he has not finished lower than second since May 2 and there are no signs he's slowing down anytime soon.

"That is the best car I have had here; I just couldn't get close enough to him," runner-up Brad Keselowski said. "He just motored right on back by me, like damn."

And he wasn't done after Texas, either.

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 13: NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson (5) celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Open race on June 13, 2021 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Larson headed straight to Ohio early Monday morning for three nights of dirt racing. Once there, he picked up his first sprint car victory of the month in the feature at Wayne County Speedway, where the payout was $6,000 to the winner.

Larson won three times in his sprint cars last month — no surprise there, Larson racked up nearly 50 victories racing coast-to-coast dirt tracks last year during his nearly season-long NASCAR suspension — and is at last meeting the hype that surrounded him when he first entered NASCAR.

Gordon and Tony Stewart were his loudest cheerleaders when Larson arrived as a 19-year-old willing to migrate from the local short track scene to the biggest show in the country. Both Hall of Famers were adamant that Larson was the purest racer they'd seen in years and were confident he'd be a superstar in NASCAR.

PHOENIX, AZ - March 08, 2020: Team owner Chip Ganassi and his driver Kyle Larson (42) McDonalds Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing chatting on pit lane prior to the start of the race at the NASCAR Cup FanShield 500 on March 08, 2020 at the Phoenix Raceway in Phoenix, AZ. (Photo by Lyle Setter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

But his equipment at Chip Ganassi Racing wasn't good enough to win every week and Larson notched just six victories in six inconsistent seasons. He was fast at Ganassi but he didn't seem to know how to close out victories. Too many runs in contending cars ended because he'd hit a wall, make a mistake or maybe push too hard.

That hasn't been a problem since Hendrick Motorsports signed him late last year, bringing an end to his banishment from NASCAR for his use of the N-word while racing online during the early days of the pandemic. Larson's second chance came with NASCAR's winningest organization and his chance to drive Hendrick cars was going to put him in position to consistently race for wins at last.

It hasn't hurt that the entire Hendrick organization is red hot — Larson's All-Star race win was the fifth straight HMS victory, and the four-driver lineup has collected seven checkered flags in the 16 points-paying races.

Denny Hamlin holds a 47-point lead over Larson in the standings but is winless so far this year, just months removed from last year's seven-win campaign. If anyone can beat Larson right now, Hamlin doubts it is him.

DAYTONA, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing FedEx Express Toyota Camry, during a pit stop during the Daytona 500 on February 17, 2020 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fl. (Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In fact, he figures only Alex Bowman, William Byron and reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott can run with Larson.

"His teammates have the same cars as him, so they have the potential to get after him," Hamlin said. "That team, they've just got everything figured out right now. They've got everything you need to be fast and we're all playing catch-up at the moment.

"We're going to have to get a little bit better as the summer months go on if we want to compete with them in the long term."

Next up comes Sunday's first Cup race at Nashville Speedway, which has been dormant since its 21st and final Xfinity Series race in 2011. Larson will go to Tennessee with Valvoline making its debut on his No. 5 Chevrolet as the third of four sponsors so far announced for Larson this season.

SONOMA, CA - JUNE 06: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Hendrick Motorsports HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, speeds down the track during the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 on June 6, 2021 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA. (Photo by Bob Kupbens/Sonoma Raceway via Icon Sportswire)

It will be just the third time in 17 events that a non-Hendrick company has been featured on his car. But with this rate of success, companies aren't going to stay away from Larson much longer, which is what Hendrick banked on all along when he offered the exiled driver a return.

Larson understands there may be no reward at the end of the season for his success — Kevin Harvick won a Cup-high nine races last year but failed to advance to the championship round of the playoffs — but nine finishes of fourth or better have him feeling really good right now at second in the Cup standings.

"The races are hard to win and championships are even harder to win," Larson said. "This is definitely the best opportunity I've ever had to win the championship. But there's still a long season left, and other cars and teams are going to get better, and so will we.

"Just got to keep working hard, and hopefully we can have ourselves in position come October or November."

 

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