Though he still hasn't won since mid-May at Kansas Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson seems to be heading in the right direction, as a strong round of 12 made him the first driver to clinch a spot in the round of 8 on points.
He finished in seventh place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and sixth at Kansas to take the points lead, and he finished the quarterfinal round atop the point standings following his runner-up finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Sunday.
And seeing as how he finished behind Trackhouse Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, who has now won five consecutive road or street course races, it might as well have been a win for the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet, who entered the Roval as the reigning winner of the Bank of America Roval 400.
Kyle Larson passes Cody Ware in this key statistic
But even if Larson hadn't finished second in Sunday's 109-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.32-mile (3.734-kilometer) Concord, North Carolina track, a non-disastrous afternoon on a road course was much-needed for the 2021 champion.
Entering this race, he had the lowest average finish among all 36 full-time drivers in the five non-oval races that had been contested so far in 2025. His best finish was 13th place at the Chicago Street Course, and his average was 31st.
Second-lowest on the average road or street course finish list was Rick Ware Racing's Cody Ware (30.2). But after his runner-up finish at the Charlotte Roval, Larson is no longer last on the list, as his average finish in such races is now 26.17. Ware finished 33rd on Sunday, and his 30.67 average is now the lowest in the series.
All four races remaining on the 2025 schedule are oval races. Larson is set to enter the round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway sitting four points above the Championship 4 cut line. The 2021 champion also qualified for the Championship 4 in 2023.
The South Point 400 is set to be shown live on USA Network from Las Vegas beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 12. Reigning series champion Joey Logano of Team Penske is the race's reigning winner. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and be sure to catch all of the action!