Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team on warpath toward a third title

Not since the 2025 spring race at Kansas Speedway had Kyle Larson so thoroughly whipped the NASCAR Cup Series field as he did at Kansas on Sunday afternoon. 

Larson, the defending Cup Series champion who broke a 51-race winless drought at Gateway on Sept. 13, dominantly won the Hollywood Casino 400, sweeping the stages and leading 235 of 267 laps en route to a 76-point day that pushed his points lead over Denny Hamlin to 26 points with six races left in the 2026 season. 

Chase Briscoe was the only driver who could challenge Larson, doing so in the closing laps of Sunday's race, but when the dust settled, Larson had his second win in three races, and a dominant one at that. 

Any rumors of Larson's demise or that of his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team were greatly exaggerated. 

"I said it kind of in Gateway, I felt like we were close," Larson said. "I didn’t feel like it was 51 races [going winless] and then — yeah, just it seems like we were just building and ready to kind of capitalize if we got to a moment like this where our car and everything kind of came together.

So just proud of everybody for working so hard for so long now, and then proud of just the execution that they’ve put in here these first four races. We just got to try and keep it up."

Larson was still consistent throughout the regular season but has found another gear in the Chase. He was in contention to win the Southern 500 and has an average finish of 2.25 through the first four races of the postseason.

"Nobody wants to go through the struggle, but the struggle can be so constructive, if you let it be, if you lean in the right ways," said Cliff Daniels, Larson's crew chief. "We have a great company with a lot of great people on the shop floor that are in the teams, engine shop, car shop, leadership.

"The sport goes in cycles. Somebody told me a long time ago, when the sport goes in cycles, when you’re on top, you’ve got to take the best of it; and when you’re not, you’ve got to be patient and be ready when it is your turn."

Kyle Larson, No. 5 team peaking at the right time

Larson and the No. 5 team have certainly capitalized on their improvement, and they may not be done yet. Three of the final six Chase races are at 1.5-mile tracks, including the season finale at Homestead, where Larson has been excellent throughout his career.

"I feel like we’ve shown a decent amount of patience," Daniels said. "At the same time, we’ve been patient, just from the emotional level of not letting the struggle really keep us down. We’ve been passionate in the pursuit, passionate in putting in the work that now, honestly, in my opinion, I still don’t think as a company we’ve peaked yet. I don’t think as a team we’ve peaked yet. There’s still a lot of racing left and a lot of work to do."

Larson said that he doesn't believe the title is his to lose, but he and his team have been in this position before and come out with the championship. If the speed they showed on Sunday is exhibited over the next six weeks, the other 15 title hopefuls could be in trouble.

"I think we’re peaking at a good point," Larson said. "I would like to think that we still have room to go to be even better."

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.