To say that Kyle Larson has been the class of the field on 1.5-mile tracks since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 would be an understatement. After all, he has won 10 of 34 races on those layouts at HMS, including earlier this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Kansas Speedway.
Although Larson is no longer the championship favorite following Ryan Blaney's win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to kick off the round of 12, he heads to one of his best tracks on the schedule with a 41-point advantage above the round of 8 cut line after a solid seventh place finish at Loudon.
Larson's three Kansas wins are tied with Bristol Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway for his most at any track in the series.
According to NASCAR.com, Larson's 221 laps led in the May Kansas race were the most by a driver in a 400-mile race at a 1.5-mile track in series history, while his 760 laps led at the track since joining HMS are four times more than any other driver during that span.
Don't be surprised if Kyle Larson is not as dominant this time around
Larson has led laps in three of the four playoff races so far, but Sunday's race produced his first top 10 finish after a subpar opening round for the entire Hendrick organization. As he returns to the site of his most recent win, one would expect his lackluster 18-race stretch since then to officially come to an end.
The same could also be said going into the Bristol Night Race a few weeks ago, however, before he finished 32nd and was never in contention the entire race after leading 873 of the 1,000 laps in the two prior races there.
At Bristol, there was also a new right-side tire in that race that wreaked havoc on the field with its aggressive wear. This weekend, Goodyear is set to bring another new right-side tire, one that is also set to be used at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track to open up the round of 8 in two weeks.
Despite all that, the 32-race winner and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion is as versatile and talented as any driver in the garage. He is also not the only one struggling to put consistent results together, as 23XI Racing showed us at New Hampshire with a pair of finishes outside the top 20 after a solid opening round of the playoffs.
It did not work out for Larson at Bristol, but it would be hard to bet against him on Sunday, even if his performance does not rival that dominant showing from the spring. There is also no better opportunity for Larson to flex his muscle and return to victory lane than the halfway point of the playoffs.
Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 is set to be shown live on USA Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and tune in!