Entering the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season as a two-time champion, no one had more momentum than Kyle Larson. But after a pair of finishes outside the top 15 in the season’s first two races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, Larson finds himself 21st in the standings and no longer the championship favorite.
23XI Racing, however, is off to a blistering start, with Tyler Reddick claiming each of the first two races and ending a 16-year Cup Series streak in the process. Unlike Larson, both of the team’s drivers, Reddick and Bubba Wallace, sit at the top of the point standings and could not have asked for a better start to the season.
Maybe a break from superspeedways is exactly what Larson needs as the series begins its west coast wing at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) road course in Austin, Texas on Sunday. He finished 16th in the Daytona 500 and had to settle for 32nd at EchoPark Speedway after coming down across the nose of Shane van Gisbergen and crashing out at the end of stage two.
With 32 career wins and two Cup Series championships, Larson’s talent is unmistakable. However, unlike the previous format when he could get away with that type of mistake by winning a race, Sunday was a harsh reminder of how punishing the current format can be when mistakes are made.
Kyle Larson playing from behind already after Atlanta mistake
Although Larson was one of five drivers who dropped below the top 16 in the standings after the Atlanta race, it is still way too early to overreact, especially for someone of his caliber.
With points and consistency more meaningful than they have been sine 2013, however, it is fair to at least wonder if this is something that Larson can improve on as the season progresses. He's already 83 points out of the lead.
Keep in mind, he has not won a race since May 11, 2025 at Kansas Speedway. Including the first two races this season, Larson has finished outside the top 10 on 13 occasions since his most recent win. Six of those finishes have been outside the top 30, which are not exactly the results you need to thrive in the new Chase postseason format.
With that said, it is important to pump the brakes a little, considering the series has not even visited any traditional oval tracks up to this point in 2026. And with four finishes of 14th or worse in his five starts at COTA, this may not be the weekend that Larson entirely rights the ship, but it could be a start for the driver who was a runner-up there in the inaugural 2021 race, even if this year's race is on a different layout.
With more traditional ovals to follow, expect Larson to climb his way back into the top 16 in no time and put this disastrous start behind him.
While that will likely happen sooner rather than later, it has only taken the first two races of the season for Larson to feel the effects of the new format. Wins still matter, but if the consistency and results are not there as well, no driver in the field is safe from finding himself at a points deficit.