TALLADEGA, Ala. — Kyle Larson doesn't have the best stats on superspeedways, yet he is far more confident entering Talladega Superspeedway than he was last weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
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He knows that the average finish of 22.0 at Talladega does not reflect the points he has scored before being collected in a wreck. This track is more of a known quantity than Phoenix, where he has struggled with consistency.
"I feel like, just speaking for us on the No. 5 team, we've scored stage points in a lot of the stages here," Larson told media members on Saturday.
"We've been up front at the ends of the races. I've been in the top-five here a few times in the last few years."
At Talladega, in particular, Larson has made 23 starts while posting five top-10 finishes and three top-fives. He has posted seven DNFs. His best finish was second behind Austin Cindric in the 2025 spring race.
But while he hasn't delivered these finishes, Larson has scored stage points in all but one race of the Gen 7 era. He won a stage during the 2025 spring race.
Now, he will aim to continue this streak of scoring points on Sunday. He needs them in order to remain in contention for the championship, considering that he failed to finish last weekend's race at Phoenix. His points lead went from 49 to only five.
"I mean, as bad as my results are here, I still look at it as opportunity, for sure, to get out here and have a shot to win," Larson said.
"I feel like we all, every single car in the field, maybe aside from a couple, have a shot to win if things go a certain way."
Larson has already checked off one item on the to-do list. He put himself in position to contend for stage points early on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m. ET on NBC).
The Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified 10th at the 2.66-mile superspeedway on Saturday afternoon. This put him on the fifth row next to Denny Hamlin, who enters the weekend 31 points out of the championship lead.
Now, the next task is keeping the car clean and running inside the top 10 in stages 1 and 2 on Sunday afternoon.
