Kyle Larson remains unshaken in his stand on NextGen despite the three fastest wins of his NASCAR career

Kyle Larson dominated at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, winning the AdventHealth 400 and earning his third victory of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. He started from the pole and led 221 of 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track, pulling off the fastest three-win start to a season in his Cup career. Despite this strong performance, Larson once again made it clear: he doesn’t think the Next Gen car has changed much since its debut.

Larson now has three wins in the first 12 races of the season, tying with Christopher Bell for the most this season. This latest win also marked his third career victory at Kansas and the 32nd of his career, tying him with Dale Jarrett (29th) on the all-time Cup Series win list.

When asked what makes the start to this year so strong as compared to previous years, including his championship season in 2021, Kyle Larson didn’t credit any major changes in the car or setup. Instead, he pointed to experience with the Next Gen platform.

"I don’t know, I just think the Next-Gen car hasn’t changed really since it’s come out, and I think every team is kind of narrowing in on their setups, and we’re no different," Larson remarked via Speedway Digest. "You learn the car. You learn the style. You just become better.”

“Especially when you are up front and leading laps, you learn how to lead a race. You learn how to execute all the little details. Yeah, I just think the time and experience with the Next-Gen car is probably helping the success early on in the year," he added.

Larson swept both stages before taking the checkered flag, giving him eight stage wins this season, the most ever through the first 12 races of a Cup season. He also crossed the 10,000 laps-led mark for his career on Sunday, becoming just the third full-time active driver to do so, behind only Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

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When Kyle Larson said he would have had 50 Cup wins with the previous Gen car

Kyle Larson believes his win total could have been much higher if NASCAR hadn’t moved to the Next Gen car in 2022. Earlier this season, after winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Larson said he felt he could have already reached 50 career Cup Series wins if the Gen-6 car was still in use.

“I think if we would still have the 2021 car, I would have about 50 Cup wins right now," Larson said in Miami via Newsweek. "I think switching to this car has limited us from winning. I don’t know. I think just being with a good team and being able to adapt to new things is something you try to pride yourself on."

Even though he feels limited by the newer car, Kyle Larson has still had plenty of success. He has won 14 races since the Next Gen car was introduced, more than any other driver in that time. He also praised his team at Hendrick Motorsports for adapting to the new car better than most teams out there.

The victory at Kansas moved Kyle Larson to the top of the Cup Series points standings. He now leads by 35 points over teammate William Byron. The 32-year-old will now move his focus to the All-Star weekend at the North Wilkesboro Speedway. The 100-lap All-Star Open is scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at 5:30 pm ET, and the 250-lap All-Star Race will start at 8:00 pm ET.