After pulling off one of the wildest finishes of the NASCAR Cup Series season Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, Larson glanced at the championship standings and discovered that his five-point lead had ballooned to 73.
“Never in a million years would I imagine leaving here plus 73,” Larson admitted in his post-race availability with the NASCAR press. “I was shocked when I saw that on the screen.”
“That makes the win feel even cooler.”
A week after finishing 34th at Phoenix, Larson had not only captured his first Cup Series superspeedway victory but also put considerable distance between himself and the rest of the championship field.
And with only Martinsville and Homestead remaining, the timing couldn’t have been better.
Larson Still Can’t Believe How Talladega Ended
Larson’s victory was anything but straightforward.
He took the white flag in the lead before getting shuffled outside the top 10 on the final lap. For a moment, the win appeared to be gone.
Then Ross Chastain got behind him, helping Larson build the momentum he needed to charge back through traffic.
“Definitely did not think I would win. Even off of Turn 4 I did not think I would win,” Larson said. “But that’s just superspeedway racing.”
Crew chief Cliff Daniels was just as surprised.
“I wasn’t sure what we could recover to,” Daniels acknowledged.
But as the field scattered and Larson’s lane gathered momentum, everything suddenly fell into place.
“When the seas parted, we were there,” Daniels said.
The result was particularly satisfying after Phoenix, where Daniels said he took responsibility for the team’s struggles and the setup of the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Rather than allowing that disappointment to linger, the team regrouped and delivered its biggest result of the Chase.
Larson Isn’t Ready to Celebrate a Championship
With a 73-point advantage over Denny Hamlin, Larson has put himself in an enviable position entering the final two races.
But he knows how quickly that cushion could disappear.
“There’s still two races. It’s so easy to look at it and be like, ‘Oh, the 5’s got it,'” Larson said.
“There’s still a lot of racing left.”
Daniels echoed that approach, emphasizing that the team cannot afford to become overly cautious.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re still playing offense well,” he said.
For now, Larson can enjoy a victory that had eluded him throughout his Cup Series career.
Making it even sweeter was having his children, Owen, Audrey and Cooper, at the track to celebrate.
“It means a lot,” Larson said. “The wins are so hard to get.”
Sunday delivered a superspeedway victory, a memorable family celebration and a championship advantage Larson never expected.
But he’s determined not to mistake a commanding lead for a championship already won.
Kyle Larson Makes Stunning Admission After Wild Talladega Win