Inside The Garage: Why Kyle Larson Dismissed Reaching Record-Tying 7 NASCAR Titles

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY (Homestead, Fla.) — Kyle Larson’s tone said it all when asked about whether he thinks he could match the seven Cup titles won by Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jimmie Johnson. “I’d have to win five in a row to feel like I have enough time, probably, like Jimmie did,” said Larson, referring to Johnson’s streak of five titles from 2006-2010. In other words, the 34-year-old Larson isn’t thinking seven titles. Or, at least, isn’t letting himself think about it, even though he has won three of the last six championships (2021, 2025, 2026). “Seven is a big number,” Larson said in his champion’s news conference late Sunday night. “These championships are extremely hard to come by.” Larson’s racing idols, Tony Stewart (three titles) and Jeff Gordon (four titles) seemed to be more worth talking about to Larson after winning his third championship Sunday. “To join Tony is such a cool feeling,” Larson said. “I can’t really believe that I’m on a list with him in championships. “Ultimately, if I could join Jeff Gordon, that would be amazing also for a lot of the same reasons. “You want to just keep winning. Hopefully, we can get there. I think Jeff thinks that I want to beat him and win five or win more than him. Obviously, yeah, that would be great. But for me just to be on a list with Jeff Gordon would be pretty awesome.” Gordon, now the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, has somewhat playfully told Larson to “come and get it” in referring to his four titles. “He’s going to pass me,” Gordon said at the champion’s news conference. “I already came to that conclusion. I kind of knew that when he was going to Hendrick Motorsports. He’s special.” Larson and his team, led by Cliff Daniels, have some of the same attributes that Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus had, according to Gordon. The NASCAR Hall of Famer used the last two titles as an example: Larson won last year’s championship with a late two-tire call in a race where he didn’t even lead a lap, in a postseason where he didn’t win a race; he then won this year’s title (in a new Chase format) with an awesome 10-race run. “They put themselves in position, and they had something fall their way in a great way [in 2025],” Gordon said. “That’s how you win multiple ones in a row, multiple championships, is when you have that opportunity, you seize it. “That’s what Jimmie and Chad did. I think there were championships, honestly, at least one of them, I felt like we should have beat them. They never quit. They never gave up. They came back and showed you how good they are and stepped it up and took it to another level.” One of Larson’s toughest competitors, Denny Hamlin, said that Larson is this generation’s Johnson and that seven titles is not out of reach. “It seems feasible,” Hamlin told me and other reporters after the race. “You don’t know how long he’s going to go. That matters. If he can get to five or six by 40, then he’s probably going to try to go all the way. “It’s certainly feasible. And they’re good enough to do it. He’s with one of the best teams in the garage, and he’s probably one of the best drivers, if not the best.” What would make it feasible is the format, which has changed from an elimination-style, one-race championship to a 10-race mini-season. While making it to being one of the four finalists was arguably easier than in the past, the 10-race mini-season rewards consistency and strength and makes the champion a little less random or focused on one weekend. “Now that we’re back to the Chase format, I think championships could be a little bit more realistic because it’s not down to one race,” Larson said. “Right now I’m not thinking, definitely not thinking, about seven. I’m happy to have three. If I could get one more, I would be even happier. If you end up getting four, then the next is five.” And then six. And then seven. “That’s way far ahead,” Larson said. “That’s more than double what I have now. Three has been really tough to get.” Hocevar Meets The Press Carson Hocevar, suspended for the season finale by Spire Motorsports for repeatedly brake-checking Austin Cindric at Martinsville Speedway two weekends ago, met with the press Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hocevar was fined $100,000 and docked 25 points and eventually fell from 12th to 14th in the final standings after missing Homestead. The 23-year-old, who has been involved in more than his fair share of incidents over the last few years, said he finally burned his hand on the proverbial stove. He said he knew in the moment he was doing something egregious. “[I knew] before I started hitting the brakes, [discipline] was a possibility for sure,” Hocevar said in his news conference. “I took a percentage risk of that, and clearly I didn’t win on it or come out looking good. “It was kind of in my mind that it was a possibility.” In The News –Ryan Preece will change numbers from 60 to 6 next season, putting him in the number most associated with the Roush Racing roots (and most recently driven by Brad Keselowski) of RFK Racing. –NASCAR will stop using its metric formula to determine the starting lineup if qualifying is rained out. While it will still use the metric for qualifying order, it will use owner points to determine the lineup. –Crew chief moves: Alex Bowman’s crew chief Blake Harris will go to Trackhouse Racing to crew chief Shane van Gisbergen. Stephen Doran, the crew chief for SVG, will move to Spire Motorsports to crew chief Michael McDowell. –In the O’Reilly Series, Haas Factory Team announced that John Hunter Nemechek will drive the No. 41 next season, replacing Sam Mayer (who is moving back to JR Motorsports). JR Motorsports announced that Justin Allgaier and Rajah Caruth will return full time to the team in 20207. Big Machine Racing announced that Will Rodgers will drive the No. 48 car next year, replacing Patrick Staropoli. –In trucks, McAnally-Hilegmann Racing announced the return of Christian Eckes and Daniel Hemric (Tyler Ankrum and Kris Wright won’t return). Timmy Hill, who has owned his own truck team for the last several years, will drive full time in 2027 for Team Reaume in its No. 2 truck. Kaulig Racing confirmed that Mini Tyrrell would not return to the team’s truck roster next year. The winner of the “Race For The Seat” reality show, he likely will be replaced by the winner of this year’s show (still to be determined). –The American Dairy Association Indiana has renewed its multiyear partnership with Indianapolis Motor Speedway. –Country musician Thomas Rhett will perform the prerace concert for the Daytona 500. Top Rookies Winning the rookie of the year award as the highest rookie in points in the series were Connor Zilisch in Cup, Brent Crews in O’Reilly and Brenden “Butterbean” Queen in trucks. Social Spotlight They Said It “That’s what … makes it so meaningful, just the teamwork. This one more than any of them took teamwork.”–Kyle Larson