Until a late caution for William Byron extended Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series championship race to overtime, Kyle Larson was not much of a factor, even losing a lap early in the final stage. Despite the adversity, a two-tire call gave him the track position he needed to hold off Denny Hamlin, who could not make up lost track position on four tires and suffered more championship heartbreak.
Larson is now a two-time champion, joining Kyle Busch (2015 and 2019) and Joey Logano (2018, 2022, and 2024) as the only active multi-time champions in the series. While Larson questioned how he even won the championship, despite not leading a single lap while Hamlin led 208, that is an elite list of drivers to be on.
At just 33 years old, Larson should still have plenty of years in front of him and is driving for the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports organization. With 32 career wins and 26 since he joined Rick Hendrick's team ahead of the 2021 season, Larson is not going anywhere.
Although the cruelty behind the way that Hamlin lost the championship took away from a deserving champion in Larson, he still would have won the title if it was decided on points alone, so it is not like he lucked into it or had it handed to him.
His most recent win came in May, but his consistency for the entire season was certainly championship worthy, regardless of how the title race played out.
Don't expect Kyle Larson to slow down anytime soon
For anyone expecting Larson to take a step back after a relatively lackluster second half of the 2025 season, his overall success at Hendrick Motorsports says otherwise. He has won at least three races in each of his five seasons with the team and two of five championships, even when his second one seemed improbable.
With the announcement that NASCAR is set to start rotating the championship race for all three national series, beginning with a return to Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2026, Larson should benefit for multiple reasons.
First, his success at the 1.5-mile track just south of Miami is second to none, with the exception of maybe Tyler Reddick. He has two wins, six top five finishes, and has led laps in all but two of his 12 starts there.
He would obviously still need to be in title contention by the time the season finale at Homestead rolls around, but if he is, it is hard to imagine a better track for him to end the season at. For what it's worth, he was still with Chip Ganassi Racing when Homestead most recently hosted the championship race in 2019, so the odds would certainly be stacked against the field if he and the No. 5 Hendrick team arrive there in title contention.
If the return of Homestead is not enough, it sounds like NASCAR is ready to move on from the one-race championship format, with potential alternatives including a four-race championship round to eliminate some of the randomness of just having one race to crown a champion.
If that is the route NASCAR elects to take, it is hard to argue against Larson being the most consistent driver in the series on all track types. He has essentially won at every type of venue, with the exception being superspeedways. If the idea is to reward the driver who has been the most consistent, Larson, who was tied for the most top five finishes (15) and top 10 finishes (22) this season, is clearly at the top of the list.
Keep in mind, Larson won his second title with a car that was not much of a factor the entire race, proving it is hard to count him out even when things are not going his way. If there end up being more races used to determine the Cup Series champion, Larson could and probably should win even more titles down the road.