Mistakes could add up for Kyle Larson in NASCAR's new points system

No longer does a single win guarantee a playoff berth or a spot in the next round of the postseason. Points are all that matter now, and while Larson scored the most points of any driver in the 2025 season and won the title anyway, consistency is not always a guarantee for the Elk Grove, Calif., native.

As many highlight reel moments as Larson has produced, there have been a handful of lowlights as well. 

At Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2023, Larson, who was already locked into the Championship 4, crashed into the sand barrels at the entrance of pit road while racing Ryan Blaney for the lead late. 

That mistake had essentially zero consequences for Larson, given that he was already guaranteed an opportunity to race for the title. The same can't be said this season, where a mistake of that magnitude at that point in the season could kill a driver's championship hopes.

On Lap 4 of the 2025 Goodyear 400 at Darlington, Larson was racing Joey Logano when he got loose and crashed. Did Larson need to be racing Logano that hard that early in the race at such a treacherous track? Probably not, but he bore the brunt of the consequences and finished 37th in a race he could've won. 

Larson drifted to 21st in the Cup Series standings, three points out of the provisional 16-driver Chase field after Sunday's race. There are 24 races for Larson to get back into the top-16, and it'd be absolutely shocking if he didn't make the Chase field.

Still, he hasn't won a race since Kansas in May 2025, and any more mistakes similar to the one he made on Sunday will carry potentially disastrous consequences moving forward.