Kyle Larson cements himself as 2024 NASCAR title favorite with Sonoma performance

If there was any doubt as to who the 2024 title favorite is at NASCAR's top level, Larson erased it on Sunday. His victory ties him with both Denny Hamlin and William Byron with the most wins in the series, but Larson has both been more dominant and more consistent than those two as he additionally leads the field in laps led and average running position.

No matter how you slice it, Larson has been the best driver thus far this season. In fact, his season is virtually mirroring the best one of his career. In 2021, Larson won a whopping 10 races and the title, he earned his third of those victories in the 16th race on the calendar at Sonoma. Sunday's race at Sonoma, once again, was the 16th of 36 points-paying Cup Series events in 2024.

Larson probably won't go on quite the same tear he did during the second half of 2021, as that was a once-in-a-generation type of season that's exceptionally hard to replicate (his 10 wins that year were the most since 2007, and his 2,581 laps led were the most since 1995). However, there's no reason to believe he won't remain ahead of the pack all the way through to Phoenix.

Ever since the introduction of the NextGen car in 2022, parity has been the rule. It's been extremely difficult for any one driver to distance themselves as a clear favorite in each of the two previous seasons, but Larson has changed that in 2024. The waiver controversy was perhaps the only thing that could have derailed his season, as it took much longer than usual for NASCAR to approve his team's claim given the unique circumstances.

However, now that that's in the rearview mirror, Larson and his No. 5 team are firing on all cylinders and pulling away from the field. When it comes to this season's top championship contenders in the NASCAR Cup Series, there is Larson and then there is everybody else.