NASCAR: This might just be the most impressive Kyle Larson stat of all

In a 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season that was effectively the Kyle Larson show, one late-season statistic may trump all the rest.

The prohibitive favorite to win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship for the entire second half of the season got the job done, thanks to a combination of strong speed on short runs, strong speed on long runs, flawless restarts, composure when things didn’t go his way, and a world-class final pit stop by the #5 Hendrick Motorsports team.

Kyle Larson capped off a dominant first season with Rick Hendrick’s team by winning the Championship 4 season finale at Phoenix Raceway to secure his first title.

His first season behind the wheel of the #5 Chevrolet was full of impressive marks and achievements.

He won 10 races, the most since former Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson won 10 en route to his second consecutive and career championship back in 2007, and tied for the most since former Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon won 13 en route to his second consecutive and third career championship back in 1998.

He led 2,581 laps, the most for any driver since the 36-race era began in 2001 and the most for any driver since Gordon led 2,610 en route to his first championship in 1995.

And he also won in just his fourth start with Hendrick Motorsports, an all-time team record. No other driver in team history, a history that has seen 19 other winners over 39 seasons, had won prior to start number seven.

Keep in mind, this all came after Larson basically missed the 2020 season after being fired during the COVID-19 hiatus by Chip Ganassi Racing due to the fallout of his usage of a racial slur during an iRacing event.

But perhaps the most impressive statistic from Larson’s dominant 2021 run did not come until late in the year.

If you remove the season’s first 28 races from the record books for Kyle Larson and Kyle Larson only, Kyle Larson still leads the Cup Series in wins for 2021.

With 10 wins, Larson won more than twice as many races as the next closest drivers (Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr., four each). Interestingly, one of those two drivers (Bowman) finished down in 14th place in the standings — another statistic that subtly speaks to Larson’s dominance.

Five of Larson’s wins came in the regular season, and five came in the playoffs. Beginning with the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson won five out of eight races, including three in a row from the end of round of 12 through the first two races of the round of 8, to secure the title.

Pretty ironic for a guy who actually did have the 2020 season’s final 32 races taken away from him.