Kyle Larson looking to defend 2025 championship, get back to victory lane

There's a thought that should terrify the NASCAR Cup Series field going into 2026: Despite a consistent season and the fact that he found a way to win his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2025, Kyle Larson was not driving as his highest level. 

The two-time Cup Series champion will carry a 24-race winless drought into the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15. 

There's also a weird feeling regarding Larson's second championship, though it's not one that Larson had any control over. While he did score the most points of any driver over the course of the 2025 season with the playoff format disregarded, it was only thanks to a late-race caution and a gutsy pit call from crew chief Cliff Daniels that snatched the championship out of Denny Hamlin's hands and gave it to Hamlin. 

It may not be fair to Larson, who simply played the cards he was dealt in regard to NASCAR's playoff format, but there will always be a stigma surrounding his second title. 

How Kyle Larson can return to dominance

The only way to rid himself and the No. 5 team of that stigma? Get back to their winning ways in 2026. 

It's not as if Larson was bad in 2025. But his three-win total was his lowest since 2022, a year where he was eliminated in the second round of the NASCAR playoffs. On the other hand, his 22 top-10 finishes were his most in that category since his 2021 title season, where he had 26. 

The key for Larson in 2026? Keeping that same level of consistency while also translating consistently running up front to more wins. 

Three wins is far, far away from being a bad season, but for a driver the caliber of Larson, it's not the peak of the mountaintop, either. 

That was clear over the summer stretch of 2025, where after his Kansas win and subsequent poor showing during the Indy 500-Coke 600 "Double," Larson and the No. 5 struggled to find speed. Over the final 14 races of the regular season, Larson had only three top-five finishes and seven top-10s. He also led only 68 laps during that span. 

Larson didn't win during the playoffs, but he did notch six top-seven finishes over the last seven races, with the wild card of Talladega being the only outlier. 

As Larson looks to get back to victory lane and the championship stage in 2026, the garage should shudder at what a full-strength No. 5 team looks like as Larson tries to defend his title.