Current points leader Kyle Larson’s numbers have been ridiculous halfway through NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup.
Larson drove the No. 5 Chevy to a second-place finish at Las Vegas last Sunday, extending his points lead and clocking in his fifth straight top-five finish in the Chase. After finishing 31st in the regular-season finale at Daytona, Larson has since finished 5th, 1st, 2nd, 1st, and 2nd, putting up legendary performances.
Larson’s ability to put up his best efforts has come at the right time. He entered the Chase in seventh place, 55 points behind Denny Hamlin. Heading into the Chase’s second half, Larson is 40 points ahead of Hamlin, who is now in second. Larson has shown that stringing together a few elite races pays dividends, even when entering the Chase in the middle of the pack.
How historic has Larson’s Chase been so far? Pat DeCola of NASCAR.com wrote that Larson’s performance “…is the best through the first five races of The Chase since the format debuted in 2004, and his 273 points over that stretch are the most anyone has scored in a five-race span this year.”
Kyle Larson Will Be Tough To Catch If He Stays Consistent
Larson doesn’t need to maintain the 2.2 average finish he has had throughout the Chase to keep his lead. If he accumulates steady top-10 finishes, the 2026 championship will be there for the taking come November.
Recent history is on Larson’s side for the upcoming Charlotte race. He finished fifth there in the spring. Phoenix is after Charlotte, followed by Talladega, Martinsville, and Homestead-Miami.
He was one of the top drivers at the spring Phoenix race, where he took third place. A big wreck during the spring race at Talladega knocked Larson out of contention, and he finished 40th. Larson finished ninth at Martinsville, and he won at Homestead in 2025. If he rebounds at Talladega and enjoys repeat performances at Phoenix, Martinsville, and Homestead, Larson will be hard to stop.
The Chase Is Far From Over Despite Historic Larson’s Numbers
A few drivers could sneak up on Larson, given their own elite performances heading into the fall Charlotte race. Chase Briscoe has won two of the past three races at NASCAR’s 1.5-mile tracks, and he looks poised to sneak into the top five in the points and keep climbing.
Tyler Reddick started the 2026 season hotter than any other driver who’s hoping to catch Larson. He won three straight races to kick off the season. A recent string of finishes outside the top 10 has hurt Reddick’s chances. That said, he could get hot in the season’s closing races and make a run during the last few weeks of the season.
Finally, there’s Hamlin, who will be looking to finally break through and capture his first title. Hamlin started the Chase with an 18th-place finish at Darlington, but strung together three straight top-10 finishes before finishing 16th at Las Vegas. Like Reddick, Hamlin also strung together three straight wins earlier in the season at Nashville, Michigan, and Pocono.
While Larson is the clear-cut frontrunner in the back half of the Chase, he will face a few strong contenders as the sense of urgency increases. If his historic run continues at Charlotte, he will have an even more incredible outlook heading into the season’s final four races.
Kyle Larson Is Putting Together Historic NASCAR Chase Run