Kyle Larson and Hendrick Motorsports walk a fine line at the Roval with road course slump against stellar stats

Kyle Larson would easily advance to the Round of 8 owing to his massive points advantage. But the next race lies at the road course in Charlotte, a type of track where the 2025 championship contender has not excelled, which could affect his title charge in the following rounds if his trend of scoring dismal results continues at the Roval.

Larson has won three races in the 2025 season so far. His 54-point advantage over the cutline all but secures his spot in the Round of 8. Moreover, he won the last race held at the Roval, leading 62 of the 109 laps en route to victory.

However, such stats don't cover his torrid form at road courses this year. Among all the full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers, he has the worst average finishing position of the lot, 31 to be exact.

If this consistency of results (or lack of) continues into the upcoming weekend at Charlotte, Larson's strong position heading into the final rounds could be shaken to its core. He has made it to the Round of 12 based on his impressive points results, which could help him get into the Round of 8, but finalizing a spot in the final four is a different task altogether.

If Larson relies on making it into the championship four with the help of points, he would have to turn his form upside down at the final road course of the season, lined up ahead. This would aid him in garnering some crucial points, thereby strengthening his bid to reach Phoenix as a contender.

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Has a torrid double duty attempt affected Kyle Larson's remainder of the 2025 NASCAR season?

Kyle Larson jumping out of his car at the practice of the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Imagn

While Kyle Larson has won three races this year, his last win came at the Kansas Speedway in May. Since then, he has made a few appearances inside the top five but has remained distant from collecting checkered flags.

This change in results was witnessed after his double duty attempt earlier in the year, which ended horribly. He crashed out of both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.

With the start of subpar results coinciding with his unsuccessful adventure to complete the 1100 miles, Kyle Larson shared his thoughts on Stacking Pennies:

"I think looking at the results since then, it’d be hard to argue that it didn’t [affect my confidence] even though I wouldn’t necessarily say I felt any lack of confidence. I don't know if it was circumstantial But my NASCAR stuff took a dip, my sprint car racing took a dip. I mean, it’s hard to argue against it." (50:51 onwards)

"It was just odd and a weird coincidence. Like I said, I mean, NASCAR took a dive a little bit, and my sprint car, which both were like going so good like right before that. I was winning more than half the sprint car races I was running. We had led 900 laps and crushing it in NASCAR to that point. And then I choke up, I choke off that Sunday and it was it's been crappy since."

Kyle Larson has scored two top-10s since the beginning of the playoffs. A statistic he would like to build upon in the upcoming races.