Kyle Larson had been in the doldrums since late May. Quite understandably, as the Hendrick Motorsports star’s double dream went down the drain. Not only did Larson crash out in the Indianapolis 500, but his Coca-Cola 600 ambition also ended due to technical snags and wrecks. Following that, Larson entered a long, brooding phase of average finishes, quite unlike the 2020 Cup Series champion’s usual streak. But he has finally broken that spell.

Last weekend’s visit to Dover Motor Speedway was thrilling, to say the least. With rain and overtime restarts marring the NASCAR Cup Series race, drivers were forced to shuffle strategies. However, Kyle Larson handled that smoothly, falling in place with his reawakening stance.

Kyle Larson heaves a sigh of relief

As he should, as the past two months have been a summer slump for Kyle Larson. On Saturday, he confessed that it felt “as tough a two months that I can remember having, even before [joining] Hendrick.” Since his slip in Charlotte, Larson led for the first time in Charlotte, that also for just 3 laps. Yet he got caught up in a smoking wreck and finished in a dismal 36th place. Between Charlotte and Dover, Larson recorded three top ten finishes, his best being 5th at Michigan International Speedway. However, Larson recovered from this slump in Dover, finishing 4th.

Kyle Larson started the Dover race in 26th, picking off several cars every few laps and scoring stage points. He cracked the top five at the conclusion of stage 2 and stayed there until rain broke out on the Monster Mile. Larson reflected on his race to SiriusXM NASCAR: “Yeah, I felt like we had a great car, we just didn’t have… You know, we were coming from behind, starting 25th. We just slowly kind of chipped away at it. I just needed another 100 laps, probably. Some long runs to have it keep working out, the way it was working out for us to get to the front. Yeah, happy with the result. We were 4th when the rain came out and 4th at the finish here, so I’ll take it.”

Kyle Larson led only 37 laps during his two-month slump. But he ended up tallying 40 points in Dover, his most since his Kansas triumph. Presently, he ranks third in the championship battle, 38 points back. William Byron took a hit due to his Dover wreck. Except for Byron, all HMS drivers performed remarkably in Dover. Alex Bowman was the highest finisher in 3rd place. Chase Elliott was the highlight of the day as he led a race-high 238 laps until a cycle of green-flag pit stops shuffled his strategy. A faulty pit call put Elliott behind in the race as he could not catch up to Denny Hamlin – he finished 6th.

While the Dover result left him happy about his recovery, Kyle Larson is not looking to rest. The upcoming weekend will have NASCAR’s spotlight on him.

A doubleheader weekend again

Well, no, Kyle Larson is not yet ready for another Double. But the HMS star is instead focusing on ‘double’ opportunities within NASCAR. Like Larson’s jaw-dropping Xfinity wins in Bristol and Texas, a similar attempt will unfold this weekend. And Larson already has a big advantage. He is the defending winner of the Brickyard 400, and the 2024 race featured a furious run from 23rd place to the front over the event’s final 31 laps. He became part of HMS’ rich legacy at Indianapolis, as the team owns 11 victories in total. Previous legendary drivers include Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne.

For the 2025 event, Kyle Larson will roll up his sleeves for a doubleheader in both Xfinity and Cup. Hendrick Motorsports announced on July 21 that Larson will wheel the HMS No. 17 this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The official X handle of HMS posted, “The reigning Brickyard winner is doubling up! @KyleLarsonRacin will run the Xfinity race this Saturday in the No. 17 @HendrickCars Chevy.” Larson has not raced in Xfinity for the past two months, so he may face a challenge from Connor Zilisch. The young prodigy is picking up victories like sweet fruit almost every weekend – but we will see what happens in Indy.

With Kyle Larson resuming his brilliant form, the excitement can only get better. Let us wait for some thrilling races from the HMS side!