Kyle Larson started the season with a bang, winning 3 of the first 12 races. However, he has since flown under the radar, despite strong finishes. His Double Duty heartbreak shone the spotlight on him, and he has only had one top-5 finish since then. However, he’s still in the thick of it for the regular season championship, and his competitors are none other than his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
Currently third in overall points, Larson trails Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott, but with seven races remaining, the battle is poised to intensify. And as Larson heads towards the playoff points, he opens up about his regular-season championship hopes.
Kyle Larson claims that the fight to the top is really tight
HMS burst out of the gate strong, claiming wins in the first six races, including wins at Homestead-Miami, Daytona 500, and Kansas. Byron and Elliott currently occupy the top two positions in the standings, with Alex Bowman rounding off the top 10, making Hendrick the only team with three drivers in the top three and four in the top 10.
In a pre-race interview before the field sets up at Sonoma Raceway, Larson acknowledged that the tight points race means that the championship fight is extremely close right now, with four HMS drivers within 48 points of each other. He also noted a few things his #5 team needs to focus on to be better as they close out the regular season. Kyle Larson said, “Yeah, it’s really tight. Hopefully, we can kind of get back on a run of being consistent and getting stage points. I feel like we’ve still kind of been consistent; we just haven’t finished as high as we have early in the year, and we’ve been missing out on stage points. So we’ve kind of lost track a little bit there, and others have been doing a good job.”
His recent results back up his claims. Since the Coca-Cola 600, Larson has 3 top-10 finishes but has only gotten stage points in 2 stages (7th in Stage 1 at Nashville and 9th in Stage 2 at Pocono) out of the six across those three races. In his last two races, the #5 has finished outside the top-10, coming 17th at Atlanta and 13th in Chicago, without picking up a single stage point in either race. This will be detrimental to his regular-season hopes and his playoff standing, as all stage points contribute toward that. And if Larson starts slacking, he’s well aware of the threat his teammates pose.
Kyle Larson even admits that, saying “Chase [Elliott] is always consistent, so he’s just quietly kind of there. After the win that he had, I was shocked, I didn’t even know he was that close in points. And then, yeah, William’s [Byron] been really strong, but he’s had some bad luck in a couple of races lately. So when the leader of the points can’t really get away, it just brings it all together. There’s still a lot of racing left, and if you go on a good run, you can stretch out the lead pretty quickly.”
William Byron sets the benchmark for Hendrick Motorsports in 2025. Leading the championship standings with 632 points, his season opened spectacularly, claiming his second consecutive date on a 500 victory, an achievement that puts him into elite company. However, despite dominant performances but no win since then, Byron has been clinging on to that top spot by a thread that has gotten smaller and smaller over time. And the man eating into this lead has been HMS teammate Chase Elliott.
DARLINGTON, SC – SEPTEMBER 05: Alex Bowman, 48 Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Ally,William Byron, 24 Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Axalta,Chase Elliott, 9 Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Napa/Childrens and Kyle Larson, 5 Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro HendrickCars.com during the running of the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 on September 5, 2021 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: SEP 05 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff – Cook Out Southern 500 Icon2109053692500
Chase Elliott has quietly been building one of the most consistent campaigns of the season and currently sits second in the standings with 619 points, just 13 behind Byron. Though he hasn’t dominated headlines, Elliott has been consistent as ever, maintaining a streak of finishing inside the top 20 in every race so far. His 2025 season includes one win, four top-five finishes, and eight top-10 finishes, with an average finish of 10.6, superior to anyone else.
Elliott broke a 44-race winless streak earlier this summer with a victory at EchoPark Speedway, a crucial turning point that’s given him renewed confidence heading into the playoffs. At Sonoma, he is starting in 13th, trailing the Hendrick team edge and qualifying pace. Still, with two road courses remaining before the playoffs, Elliott is determined to be a serious title threat if he can build on the solid foundation.
Meanwhile, the one driver Larson did not mention is Alex Bowman. His 2025 season has been defined by steady improvement and resilience, although he is not in contention for the regular season championship like his teammates. He sits 10th in the standings with 480 points and is yet to secure a win. However, he has shown flashes of brilliance like the runner-up finish at Homestead and his impressive streak of 3 top-10 finishes in 4 races heading into Sonoma.
Qualifying ninth here at Sonoma, placing 4 Hendrick drivers in the top 15, and helping the organization assert its road course credentials once again. Though he is not in the direct conversation just yet, Bowman’s pace and strategic driving are helping bolster Hendrick’s overall threat across the field. And now he is set to face Ty Dillon in the 1 million hunt in Round 3 of the In-season challenge.
So, as we enter the business end of the season, Hendrick Motorsports seems to be the team to beat. However, we all know how unpredictable the NASCAR playoffs can be, with Team Penske usually dominating out of nowhere. Do you think HMS can get it done in 2025? Let us know in the comments!
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