NASCAR 26 Cover Athlete Back to Being the Class of the Field since Knoxville Win
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a semi-regular series of fun, storyline-driven releases. We skipped last week because Hocevar and Keselowski already did the heavy lifting for us, and we didn’t want anyone to lose their minds about us promoting a rivalry that may later lead to a penalty. We’re glad that decision paid off, everyone remained calm and it wasn’t a topic of conversation.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 17, 2026) – There is no cover jinx in NASCAR, as NASCAR 26 Cover Athlete Kyle Larson turned up the heat just days prior to the flagship game’s official release date with a statement win at World Wide Technology Raceway. (By the way, download it on PS5, Xbox and PC today!)
But toward the latter end of the season’s summer stretch, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series Champion was frigid.
In the five races that spanned across Chicagoland through Iowa, the driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet ranked 35th among full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers in average finish (31.0), 36th in average positions gained (-22.2), 25th in average running position (21.4), and 35th in laps completed on the lead lap (669 of possible 1,490). Add this to a nagging winless streak dating back to Kansas Speedway last May, and any hope for a third Larson title felt mildly laughable – he was 10th points at the time, after all.
Then, the weekend of Richmond came along, scheduled concurrently with a prestigious dirt sprint car race happening over 1,100 miles away: the Knoxville Nationals. Those who know Larson understand that the only thing keeping Kyle Larson away from a dirt track is another race on a different track. And thus, it seemed as if he’d solely be strapping in for a night of racing on asphalt in the Commonwealth of Virginia amidst one of the worst slumps of his career.
But due to the grace of Mother Nature and the ever-so kind, considerate, and intuitive thinking of NASCAR Communications, Larson was told midway through the race that he’d be able to forgo his post-race media responsibilities in an attempt to get him to Knoxville in time to race. After a sixth-place result, he booked it to his plane, traveled to the Heartlands, and made it to start from the pole and earn his second coveted Knoxville Nationals title.
Since that night, Yung Money has been cashing in.
In the five races between Richmond and Gateway, Larson has improved massively to fourth in average finish (9.6), fourth in average positions gained (5.6), second in average running position (10.1) while being third in laps led (201) and fifth in laps in the top five and top 10 (551 & 888, respectively). He has also yet to finish outside the top six in this stretch apart from Daytona, which if you ask his son Owen, he just needs to try harder “because he’s not good at superspeedways.”
Larson was most recently able to end his notable winless drought at 51-races at a track Hendrick Motorsports had only two top-fives at in four previous trips to St. Louis.
“Feel like we got our swagger back a little bit,” he said on the frontstretch after his 33rd career victory, and simultaneously moving up five positions in the Chase standings to second – nine points behind Denny Hamlin.
And if his outing at Gateway wasn’t enough to put his competitors back on notice, Larson and the No. 5 team head to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend where no group has been more dominant at a certain track in the Next Gen era.
On the traditional, paved configuration since 2022, Kyle Larson is tied for first in wins (2) while outright ranking first in top fives (6), average finish (7.0), and laps led (1,230) in the last seven races among all Cup drivers.
The outlook doesn’t get much better for the rest of the Cup field as you look at the rest of the Chase as a whole either, as 14 of his 33 total career wins come at seven of the eight remaining tracks on the schedule, while being a heavy favorite at a handful such as Kansas, Las Vegas, and most certainly Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Watch as Larson looks to make his competitors further fear what might be: a late rally to a third championship with plenty of checkered flags to go with it. The Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway marks the third race of the Chase and fires off Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 15 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR sanctions races in three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series™, and NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series™), four international series (NASCAR Brasil Series, NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Euro Series, NASCAR Mexico Series), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) and a local grassroots series (NASCAR Local Racing Series Powered by O’Reilly Auto Parts). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in five cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races annually in 11 countries and more than 30 U.S. states.
For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X and Facebook.
