Kyle Larson had one of the strongest seasons in the NASCAR Cup field, winning a series-leading six races.
He nearly won the regular season title despite missing a race while making his Indianapolis 500 debut and secured a NASCAR crown jewel at Indy later in the year by winning the Brickyard 400. But his most impressive victory came at Bristol, where Larson led 462 of 500 laps in the iconic short track's most dominant showing since 1977.
Yet in this volatile playoff format, he still missed out on the Championship 4 and had to settle for sixth in the final standings.
Why Larson’s season was better than results indicate
Kyle Larson’s position of sixth in the 2024 standings doesn't tell the story of the year he truly had.
The 32-year-old was a constant threat with wins on intermediate tracks, short ovals, road courses, and the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every week, the whole field knew that they would likely have to deal with his #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
But although his season was championship-level, when facing a knockout-style format, that doesn't always equate to a title. That explains why he is behind Joey Logano in this year’s list.
Larson led 1700 laps, besting every other driver in the field by that metric. His tally of wins wasn’t eclipsed by anybody else either, and that’s even without considering how many other potential victories slipped through his fingers due to incidents or circumstances outside of his control.
That he missed out on the regular season title by a single point owed much to missing NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, due to weather delays in Indianapolis. A pitlane speeding penalty that limited him to 18th in the Indy 500 was a disappointment, but after qualifying a stunning fifth on his open-wheel debut, rookie of the year honours were deserved.
Having secured passage to the playoffs by winning in Las Vegas, Larson emerged ahead in NASCAR’s closest-ever finish when he slammed doors with Chris Buescher at Kansas, crossing the line just 0.001s ahead.
Conquering the recently-revived Brickyard 400, back for the first time since 2020, was followed by a road course success at Sonoma that only underlined his versatility.
Once the playoffs commenced, he won the elimination races for the Round of 16 (with the biggest margin of victory at Bristol in three decades) and 12 (on the always tricky Charlotte Roval), ensuring his advancement. But unfortunately for Larson, he came two positions shy of repeating that in the critical Round of 8 and ultimately missed out on a shot at the title in Phoenix.
But a driver who at Bristol put together easily the most dominant performance by anyone in the last five years had already proven his point.
