It hasn’t been the kind of season defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson was hoping for. His winless streak has now exceeded a whole year, and Chevrolet’s balance woes have Hendrick Motorsports struggling for consistency and trips to Victory Lane. Three of their four drivers, including Larson, will make it to The Chase. But that’s where the real test will begin.
Larson, however, had a rather honest confession ahead of the Cook Out 400 in Richmond on 15 August. He knows that they cannot, in just three races, make their cars as good as the Toyotas, which have been dominating the 2026 season. But he also reminded fans that there were problems last year as well.
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“None of us might seem confident as far as winning a championship, but there is still that confidence in there because you’re racing for Hendrick Motorsports, and you know at any point we can turn it around,” Larson said to journalist Tim Moore, who posted the video on X.
According to Larson, in 2025, Hendrick Motorsports didn’t have the outright fastest car in the garage either. And the stats show that it was Joe Gibbs Racing, with Denny Hamlin leading the regular season in wins. But in the end, it was Larson and HMS who pulled through at the end.
Kyle Larson’s got the pedigree to turn things around, even when the car isn’t cooperating. Subscribe for more interesting stories.
Championship pedigree, Larson would argue, and that’s what he feels can happen in 2026 too.
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To be fair, Larson actually won the Championship finale in Phoenix thanks to a perfectly executed strategy from the N0. 5 team. Hamlin looked like the clear favorite. He had led 208 laps that day and was three seconds clear before his team decided to go for a four-tire stop at the end. Larson went for two. This allowed him to stay ahead of the JGR driver, finish third on the day, and claim his second Cup Series championship.
However, things look different this year. Larson isn’t showing the same speed as the Toyotas with three races to go until The Chase begins. Plus, with the new format bumping race wins up to 55 points, winners are pulling away fast. Larson is still 10th in the standings and locked in, but staying winless makes it incredibly tough to hunt down the top seeds once The Chase starts.
On top of that, the Chevrolet cars are in an arguably worse position this year. Only Chase Elliott from HMS has been to Victory Lane, and he’s seventh in the standings. Five of the six cars ahead of him are Toyotas.
Former driver Kevin Harvick, on his Happy Hour podcast earlier this year, highlighted the problem, saying, “If you get that aero balance off and you can’t get the front end to work, then it’s just such a hard balance to figure out in order to get the car to where it needs to go…”
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The road to any sort of postseason glory looks difficult for Larson or anyone at HMS. But if anyone can pull it off, it’s them. The legendary organization has pulled a rabbit out of the hat several times before. Larson’s strategic brilliance in Phoenix in 2025 was a prime example.
But even before that, Jimmie Johnson, in 2006 and 2016, looked lost in the summer months, only to bounce back and win Cup Series championships at the end of the year.
If HMS manages to do something similar in 2026, it may just be their most incredible championship victory ever. Even better than 2025, which owner Rick Hendrick admitted was the most unexpected win of his career.
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The post “None Of Us Might Seem Confident”– Kyle Larson Addresses HMS’ Championship Readiness With Honest Claim appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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