Dale Earnhardt Jr. makes bold claim about William Byron vs. Kyle Larson

Despite another win slipping through his fingers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes William Byron has surpassed Kyle Larson at Hendrick Motorsports. Could it be true that Byron is the top guy at Hendrick in the NASCAR Cup Series now?

After today’s race at Michigan, William Byron has had his points lead cut down again. He leads Kyle Larson for the regular season championship by 41 points. He leads third-place, and today’s race winner, Denny Hamlin, by 82 points.

But has he surpassed Larson as top dog at Hendrick? Dale Earnhardt Jr. seems to think so.

“Yeah, the last couple of weeks, I think that he’s [Byron] eclipsed Larson as the best car at Hendrick Motorsports,” Dale Jr. said on the Prime Video post-race show. “Nobody’s really been able to say that for a long time. Larson was so good throughout the majority of this season, but he’s stumbled and kind of been kind of neutralized a little bit over the last couple of weeks. We know that won’t last forever, but Byron needs to take advantage of that and try to go out there and get his wins. He’s got a really good shot to separate himself from that pack and put himself in a championship contender form.”

William Byron has one win this year. Kyle Larson has three. No doubt, Larson has struggled in the last few weeks. At Charlotte, he wrecked out early. In Nashville, he had to fight from the back of the field. But has Byron really taken that lead role from the No. 5 team? I’m not so sure.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says Byron has surpassed Larson

While William Byron has the points lead for now, Kyle Larson took it from him not long ago after winning at Kansas. Of course, Byron has taken that points lead back in the last few races, especially after his huge points day at Charlotte.

But let’s take a look at the last five races. Since Texas, Byron has an average finish of 14.4. In that same time, Larson has an average finish of 11, which includes the win at Kansas. While Byron has won one more stage in that time frame, four to three, Larson still has one more stage win on the season, eight to seven.

Of course, Larson has more wins, three to one. He has led more laps, 851 to 768. He also has almost twice as many playoff points as his teammate, more top-fives, and more top-10s. To Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s credit, I do think Byron is passing the eye test better than Larson the last few weeks. He also has 40 more stage points than Larson. But a lot of the stats tell a different story.

There is no doubt that Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s argument has credibility. He isn’t saying something outrageous. But the William Byron and Kyle Larson battle for top-dog at Hendrick Motorsports is still an ongoing battle.