Kyle Larson offers shock verdict on Cup Series struggles

Kyle Larson has opened up on a tricky second half to his Cup Series season, as he prepares for the upcoming playoffs.

The driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy was on fire to start the year, racking up eight top-five finishes in just 12 races, including three wins at Homestead-Miami, Bristol and Kansas to mark himself as a serious contender for his second championship.

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In the 12 races since, however, Larson has been winless and only even cracked the top five on three occasions, with the drop-off in performance for the busiest racer in the series drawing some concerns.

He's choosing to see the positives though, crediting that three-month winless streak for making him and his team 'tougher' and preparing them for the intensity of the playoffs.

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Larson looking for playoff momentum

Speaking ahead of this penultimate regular season race at Richmond, Larson said: “The last couple of months we haven’t scored as many points as we want but through that, I feel like we’re a much tougher team.

"We’ve been through a lot and seen a lot of different things and circumstances over the past two, two and half months and I think that can prepare you for the playoffs.

"I think we have some great tracks for us in the playoffs and I feel if we do a solid job the next two weeks and we execute, we head into the playoffs with some momentum and get to those tracks that we run good at and gain some points again and hopefully get a win or two along the way and just another way to help your playoff out.”

He and his rivals will be one weekend closer to finding out the full playoff field for the Cup Series this weekend, after a rare Saturday night race at Richmond.

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