Kyle Larson Makes an 8-Word Prediction About Championship Odds With Second Title on the Line.

With only ten races remaining in the regular season, there are two groups of drivers in the Cup Series. The first set features drivers still struggling to establish their feet and make the playoffs. On the other side, a select few are currently strategizing for the championship after completing their playoff qualifying. Kyle Larson is in the latter category, and he is confident in his prospects of winning his second Cup Series championship.

Larson vaulted to the top of the points standings after his win at Sonoma last Sunday. Not only that, he also has more playoff points than the rest of the competition. So you see, the No. 5 HMS team has already started to pull the levers to get their championship plan in motion. Even Larson has now come out in public, sending out warning shots to his rivals on the back of how good his team has been this season.

Kyle Larson compares his 2021 championship run to this season.

After Larson’s dramatic departure from Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021, Hendrick Motorsports believed in him. The driver repaid the goodwill with a championship victory. He won 10 Cup Series games that season, four of which came in the playoffs, indicating that knockout stages are a strength for the #5 club.

It’s difficult to conceive how Larson could improve or come close to his dominant run in 2021. Surprisingly, the driver believes that this season’s preparations and build-up have been better than his first championship run.

“Honestly, 2021 went amazing, but I would say this year seems even better than that year because we’re like, executing good, which we were executing good to win those races, but we were also making mistakes as well. I feel like, as a team, we haven’t really been making too many mistakes this year … proud of the effort and just trying to do my best to keep it up,” he said.

What’s more impressive is that Larson missed out on the rain-washed Coca-Cola 600 race and wasn’t credited a single point. Despite not running a race, he is leading the points standings along with most laps led. However, despite securing his spot in the last 16, Larson and his team are focused on collecting as many bonus playoff points as possible. “I mean you want to continue to run up front and snag as many as points can. It’s pretty tight at the top of the standings right now and we would love to win the regular season points to get those extra bonus points in the playoffs.”