Kyle Larson caps dominant NASCAR season with championship: “It doesn’t get any bigger”

Kyle Larson is NASCAR’s 2021 Cup Series champion. He won Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway to clinch the title and record a 10-win season.

Larson led 108 laps of the 312 lap race at the track in Avondale, Arizona. The finale pitted two powerhouse organizations against each other with two teams each from Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports vying for the trophy. Their parity was evident, but Larson emerged as the most steady and dominant of the Championship 4 cars, especially on the short runs.

“I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and a half ago,” Larson said on NBC. “To win a championship is crazy.”

The Championship 4 cars raced around each other for most of the final two stages. Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr. won the first stage and caught a break pitting early when a caution flew with around 60 laps to go. As the other playoff leaders pitted, Truex restarted out front and held the lead until the next caution.

“This has turned into a Hendrick-Gibbs slugfest,” NBC Sports race analyst Jeff Burton noted on the broadcast with around 30 laps remaining.

At that point, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet team posted a game-changing pit stop, and Larson moved up three spots to take the lead again. Larson breezed by the others on the restart, and led the final 28 laps of the race to secure his first Cup Series title in his first trip to the finale.

Truex finished in second and Denny Hamlin, who was seeking his first title in his fourth championship appearance in this playoff format, finished third. He picked up pace late in the race and had long-run speed, but the late caution didn’t help Hamlin’s case, while clean air out front gave Larson the advantage.

“Track position, no matter what racetrack, is just a big, big deal,” Hamlin said. “When someone gets a restart and controls the race late, it’s so hard. You’re going to need them to really make a huge mistake.”

Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels conceded that the car’s speed was nowhere near where it had been at the team’s dominant races earlier this season. He attributed 90 percent of the win to his pit team’s late stop to give Larson the lead.

Truex and Chase Elliott, the defending champion and final playoff driver, were also factors throughout the race. Both said after the checkered flag that they felt all four cars were equally matched. Hamlin was the only playoff driver who didn’t lead a lap while the others led at least 70 each. But slight contact with Elliott before the end of the second stage to Larson’s right rear caused something like a “parachute,” as Hamlin described it, which gave Larson’s car some aerodynamic advantage.

“It was just a really weird set of circumstances,” Elliott said. “Ended up hitting him in the right rear and it flared the thing out. That was nice.”

Truex joked with Elliott, “Why wouldn’t you hit me like that?”

“If you want to do that to me next year, we’ll work on it,” Elliott said.

As the race stayed green through the final 20 laps, no caution nor mistake came. Larson’s wife, Katelyn Larson, said she was in tears. Larson was crying after the flag.

“You guys might not see it, but I tear up quite a bit,” he said. “Whenever I win races, that mean a lot to me.”

The 29-year-old driver from Elk Grove, California returned to NASCAR competition after a nearly season-long hiatus last year after losing his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing for using a racial slur during a virtual racing event. Larson made his return driving for Hendrick Motorsports after a months-long process of educating himself, atoning and working closely with those in the communities he hurt.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said that he got comfortable with Larson’s “heart” before signing him as the team’s newest driver before the 2021 season. Jim Campbell, General Motors vice president of performance & motorsports, said that Chevrolet reviewed the work Larson did off the track working with organizations like the Urban Youth Racing School and the The Sanneh Foundation in order to support Hendrick’s request to sign him.

“He’s got a big heart,” Hendrick said. “And he’s done a lot of things that nobody in here knows about. He doesn’t try to get publicity, and he’s just a good human being, and he’s got a tremendous amount of talent.”

Chevrolet won its 40th manufacturers championship this season. On Sunday, Larson became the 33rd Chevrolet driver to win the NASCAR Cup title. The No. 5 team won the regular season championship together, scoring five wins in the regular season, and capping a five-win postseason with the championship title.

Larson has won more than 70 races across motorsports series since 2020, and is often compared to crossover racer Mario Andretti or NASCAR Hall of Fame member Tony Stewart. He’s raced in a sprint car, late model, midgets and in NASCAR’s top series.

Stewart tweeted at Larson a congratulations after the race, writing, “Congratulations to the best race car driver I’ve ever seen.”

Daniels comments were similarly effusive.

“Yes, we had some adjustments in the car. Absolutely we had an amazing stop,” Daniels said. “But I think if it weren’t for (Larson’s) maturity as a driver -- not only is he one of the greatest talents in the world currently -- but I think he’s now set himself at a level where people can consider him an incredibly smart racer. I think that was the difference at the end.”

Larson described the night as “a dream come true” even after all his well-documented winning.

“I don’t know if there’s another race that could ever top this win here today,” Larson said. “Winning the Cup Series race at Phoenix for a championship. It doesn’t get any bigger.”

NASCAR Championship at Phoenix race results

(i) ineligible for points, (P) Playoff driver, # rookie

Today’s race purse: How much does the NASCAR champion win?

The total purse for all the drivers in Sunday’s Cup Series race is $10,053,801, but the actual figure for the winner or any breakdown of money winnings by driver are not disclosed by NASCAR.

NASCAR champions by year

2010: Jimmie Johnson

2011: Tony Stewart

2012: Brad Keselowski

2013: Jimmie Johnson

2014: Kevin Harvick

2015: Kyle Busch

2016: Jimmie Johnson

2017: Martin Truex Jr.

2018: Joey Logano

2019: Kyle Busch

2020: Chase Elliott

2021: Kyle Larson