Dale Earnhardt Jr. Exposes the Key Reason Behind Kyle Larson’s Massive drop in form

Kyle Larson started off the 2025 season with great promise and hopes of becoming a regular for winning races on the grid. Larson achieved a great start to the year and won three coveted races since the beginning. However, since the 32-year-old’s ill-fated second attempt at the ‘Double Duty’ this year, he has been unable to make winning races a habit. As such, the Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. weighs in on the HMS star’s immediate downfall in form and performance.

Kyle Larson attempted the daring ‘Double Duty weekend’ comprising the Coke-600 and the Indy 500 on the same day. Not many drivers have even attempted this feat, with only Tony Stewart completing both the coveted races fully back in 2001. Ever since the practice sessions of the Indy 500, Larson crashed out on two different occasions, both during the practice sessions leading to the main race.

Come Sunday, Kyle Larson couldn’t fully finish the Coke 600 due to wrecking his car on Lap 246 of the main event. In the Indy 500, the Arrow McLaren driver crashed his car again and could only finish in a mediocre P24. Owing to the disappointment during the double duty, Larson declared that he had no interest in attempting the same feat again. Dale Earnhardt Jr. reckoned that the 32-year-old felt that all the preparation leading up to the two races caused him a lot of trouble, as he did not deem it to be worthwhile anymore.

I feel like he might think that all the s**t that it requires to do all that sort of has taken his focus away from his Sunday s**t, and he’s like, ‘You know what, it’s not worth it.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. said on the Dale Jr. download.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. guessed that Kyle Larson’s woes mid-way through the 2025 season, especially at the double duty, caused him to lose a lot of momentum. On top of losing his speed, the schedule also remains very hectic, as this further contributed to Larson’s downfall. Due to these conditions, the #5 driver didn’t remain the same dominating force he once was on the NASCAR grid.

Well, it feels like to me that it sort of derailed their momentum, and it derailed it at a time where the schedule is challenging. Like y’all, you don’t need any hiccups, right? And it’s created a bit of a stretch where they just haven’t looked like themselves.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. added.

Kyle Petty claims Kyle Larson’s form ‘will come back around’

No matter if things are looking rough for Kyle Larson now, he is surely going to figure out the issues and work on them as soon as possible. Many people are still rooting for Larson as he hopes to come out of the performance slump soon. Amidst the 32-year-old’s challenging phase, ex-NASCAR driver Kyle Petty sided with the former and provided him some motivation in his drive for success.