Is Another Summertime Surge Coming For Kyle Larson?

Looking back on the statistics from last season, it is easy to see why Kyle Larson won the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship. he was the biggest winner a year ago, scoring 10 victories in a season where nobody else earned more than four. In addition, Larson led the Cup Series in top fives, top 10s, laps led, and overall playoff points accumulated. The final points standings paint a picture of a dominant driver who steamrolled the competition with very little resistance.

However, those who followed the Cup Series in 2021 week by week might remember that it took some time for Larson to really get going. The No. 5 team did score its first win together four weeks into the year, and Larson showed a lot of speed even before that initial victory. But as he adjusted to his new surroundings at Hendrick Motorsports, he and the No. 5 team struggled to put complete races together. As a result, Larson was only ninth in overall points as late as 11 races into the season. At that same time, he was one of 10 drivers who had exactly one win. Only Martin Truex Jr. had posted multiple victories so far.

The next race of the season, held at Darlington Raceway, resulted in a third victory for Truex with Larson running second. While Truex may have won the battle that day, Darlington proved to be a turning point in Larson’s season. The No. 5 team finished second two more times before going on a three-race winning streak (four if you include the non-points All-Star Race). The last win in Larson’s streak came a year ago at Nashville Superspeedway, where he led 264 of 300 laps and looked almost unbeatable for most of the day. He almost added one additional win to the streak the following week at Pocono Raceway. However, a blown tire on the final lap blocked Larson from victory lane in the Cup Series for the first time in more than a month.

Even after all that, Larson still was not the points leader. While the No. 5 team was working through its growing pains, Denny Hamlin was methodically knocking out top 10 finishes almost every week. Larson’s winning streak had erased most of Hamlin’s points lead, but the No. 5 team came up just short of overtaking the No. 11. Larson spent the next several races chipping away at Hamlin’s points lead, eventually tying him with three races to go in the regular season. Larson then took the points lead for himself one week later, maintaining the gap until the conclusion of the regular season, which ended with Larson 18 points ahead…