NASCAR Cup Series: When will Kyle Larson’s win drought end?

By Asher Fair | May 9, 2019

FORT WORTH, TX - MARCH 29: Kyle Larson, driver of the #42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on March 29, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Matt Sullivan/Getty Images) /

When will Kyle Larson end the win drought that he has been on since the end of the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series regular season?

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson finally ended the lengthy string of misfortune that he had been on to start the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season by finishing in third place in the season’s 11th race, the Gander RV 400, at Dover International Speedway.

In the season’s first 10 races, the 26-year-old Elk Grove, California pretty much had nothing go his way. From losing what seemed like a sure victory in the season’s second race at Atlanta Motor Speedway as a result of a pit road speeding penalty to barrel-rolling across the track on the final lap of the season’s 10th race at Talladega Superspeedway, nothing was going right for the driver of the #42 Chevrolet.

But Larson appeared to get back on the right in the Gander RV 400. He started and finished this 400-lap race around the four-turn, 1.0-mile (1.609-kilometer) high-banked Dover International Speedway oval in Dover, Delaware in third place, marking his best finish since he finished in third in the 2018 season’s penultimate race at ISM Raceway.

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Larson shot from 21st to 15th place in the championship standings and from 17 points below the playoff cut line to six points above the playoff cut line as a result of his first true strong performance from start to finish this season, and his focus has now turned to ending the win drought that he has been on since before the 2017 playoffs began.

The 2017 season, which was Larson’s fourth season as a full-time Cup Series driver, was his breakthrough season. He entered the 2017 season with one career victory to his name, and he quintupled his career win total by winning four races throughout the regular season.

But he is now on a 57-race win drought, which is the seventh longest win drought among the win droughts of the active full-time drivers who have won at least one race over the course of their careers. It is also the second longest win drought of his career behind only the 98-race win drought that he went on from the start of his career until he earned his first victory.

During his active 57-race win drought, he has recorded 17 top five finishes, including seven second place finishes and six third place finishes, so he has still undoubtedly shown that he has the speed he needs to win races.

Perhaps his recent third place finish following a string of misfortune and, to say the very least, poor results can provide him with the momentum that he needs to get the monkey off his back and earn what would be the sixth victory of his career in the very near future. His win drought certainly doesn’t stem from a lack of talent.

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When will Kyle Larson end the win drought that he has been on since he won the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Richmond Raceway? It has appeared to “only be a matter of time” for quite a while now, but after his performance in the Gander RV 400, that “matter of time” truly does not look like it will last for too much longer.

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