While the way by which Kyle Larson won the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship has been and will likely continue to be scrutinized, the fact is that, over the course of the entire 36-race season, he actually did score more total points than any other driver, even without winning any of the season's final 24 races.
The issue for him is the fact that that 24-race win drought has now extended to 47 races, as he's still without a victory since May 2025. But even more concerning is that he doesn't have a top 10 finish since June, and four of his five most recent starts have produced finishes of 33rd place or worse.
His 33rd place result, after contact mired him 18 laps down, at Iowa Speedway on Sunday is literally his second-best result since the month of July started, and it's his second-best oval result of the entire summer.
He has plummeted to 10th place in the point standings, and even with three races remaining on the regular season schedule at Richmond Raceway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Daytona International Speedway, he has already been eliminated from regular season championship contention.
Kyle Larson already eliminated from regular season title contention
Larson entered Iowa just barely alive in the regular season title battle, sitting 269 points behind Denny Hamlin with 304 points still on the table (300 if nobody misses any races). Now he's 294 points behind with just 228 points up for grabs.
Only Ty Gibbs (-103), Ryan Blaney (-110), and Tyler Reddick (-120) remain within that 228-point threshold, but quite frankly, they are going to need to win races while Hamlin experiences at least one or two catastrophes over the next few weeks to have even a remote shot of taking the top spot away from the driver of the No. 11 Toyota.
Larson's elimination adds to what has been a miserable summer for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole. William Byron, the reigning regular season champion and the only driver to qualify for the Championship 4 in the final three years of the old playoff format, was eliminated from regular season title contention with a full month remaining.
Chase Elliott doesn't have a top 10 finish since May, and he too was eliminated from regular season title contention at Iowa. He continued his drop down to seventh in the standings, yet he's still somehow Chevrolet's top driver in points.
And Alex Bowman hasn't been a factor in the points battle after missing four races earlier in the season, at which point he was already last in the standings. He has managed to climb his way up to 29th and is still mathematically eligible to qualify for the playoffs, but he'll need to win all three remaining regular season races to even have a slight chance.
Richmond Raceway is scheduled to host the Cook Out 400 this Saturday, August 15, with live coverage set to be provided by USA Network beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. Take advantage of FuboTV's free trial offer and don't miss any of the action!
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