Kyle Larson is the new points leader in the NASCAR Cup Series, and the noise about him being “undeserving” needs to stop. He sits at the top by exactly one marker with seven races left in the 2026 season, according to Beyond The Flag. Denny Hamlin is no longer on top after twelve races. That is a fact, not a feeling. You cannot argue with the math when the reset happens and a driver climbs to first place. Larson did the work to get there, even if the season-long stats look messy to the untrained eye.
The Luck Factor Is Real But Irrelevant
Critics will point to his sixth-place standing in season-long points, but that number hides the truth. Larson has nine finishes of 30th or worse this year, largely due to bad luck, per Beyond The Flag. Those disasters drag down his average finish to a 15.7, which makes purists cry bloody murder. Yet, when you strip away the crashes and the mechanical failures, the speed is undeniable. He has twelve top-five finishes, only two fewer than Hamlin. He also has sixteen top-10 finishes, trailing the series leader by just three spots. If you only count the races where he stayed on track, he is right there with the best.
The team around him is also struggling more than anyone else in the garage. According to Beyond The Flag, Hendrick Motorsports faces its most difficult season in nearly a decade while Larson competes for them. Chase Elliott and William Byron, his two playoff partners, currently occupy the 12th and 13th spots in the standings. Despite that, Larson accounts for 64.12% of the team’s total laps led and nearly half of their top-five finishes. He is carrying a heavy load while the rest of the shop stumbles. That takes a specific kind of grit that fans should respect, not dismiss.
Kansas Speedway Favors The Bold
Now the battle shifts to Kansas, and the odds might actually tilt in his favor. Statistics indicate that Larson has regularly discovered speed at this track. He owns three victories there and has led a track-record 1,003 laps in his career. Since joining Hendrick in 2021, he has recorded three wins and nine top-10s in just ten starts at the speedway. Since 2021, the 839 laps Larson led at Kansas are almost twice as many as any other driver achieved in that period. While Hamlin has four wins there and is very consistent, Larson knows how to run fast on this specific asphalt.
The schedule ahead includes three 1.5-mile tracks in the next four weeks, which is a stretch that usually helps Larson. After Bristol, Larson took the points lead and approaches this weekend carrying momentum. Should he maintain his position under a system demanding top form for ten races rather than a single one, it would be difficult to claim he did not deserve it. The odds are still stacked against him, but he is in the driver’s seat for the title. The only one who can beat him right now is himself.
