NASCAR Through the Gears: Kyle Larson dominates Kansas, now eyes Indianapolis 500 forecast

Yahoo

19-05-2025

Kyle Larson sure took the drama out of that one.
No need to check the scoring monitors or fetch pictures from the Fotomat. The official margin of victory was seven-tenths of a second (0.712 is the officially official margin), which compared to a year ago seems like Kyle lapped the field.
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Next up, all NASCAR eyes turn to a little village in North Carolina called North Wilkesboro, where the reborn antique of a racetrack will again be host to racing's version of the All-Star Game, but with enough complications, considerations and adjustable formats to make the infield fly rule simple to explain.
More on that as the week goes on and our auditors figure it all out.
Also, we'll send the Weather Dog on a long walk in order to bring back an extended forecast.
TITLE TOWNS NASCAR makes right move with championship rotation, but which tracks will host?
We'll wonder why Poor Ol' Brad Keselowski (that's becoming his official title, by the way) tempted fate prior to Kansas.
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And we'll visit a stat many of us didn't even know existed until Sunday — career laps led — and see which Hall of Famer is NASCAR's all-time leader. You'll never believe it.
(Psst … yes, you will).
Sink the clutch, jam that cue-ball shifter knob up to the top left, and let's get up to speed.
First Gear: Kyle Larson gladly ruins the show at Kansas
Over the years, maybe even over generations, many NASCAR fans have tried to watch Formula One but soon left bored. Too often, the top driver/team combo was fastest in qualifying, got the jump from the pole and never looked back — leading from first green to the checkers is no rarity in that high-tech world.
Well, Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Chevy team went all Max Verstappen on 'em over the weekend at Kansas. He won the pole Saturday, won the first stage Sunday, then the second stage, then the final for the checkers.
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Oh, he also grabbed that new-for-2025 bonus point for posting race-day's fastest lap.
Makes you wonder why he didn't stop outside of Turn 2 on his way home and pull a slot handle at the Hollywood Casino.
Overall, Kyle bankrolled seven more playoff bonus points (five for the win, one each for the two stage wins), and we've seen those bonus points save a driver's season when things get a tad sideways in the playoffs. Those bonus points can be big, big, big.
Kyle's points might also be gone, gone, gone in two weeks.
Why? Glad you asked.
Second Gear: Will it rain at the Indy 500? Expert forecast here
Remember last year at the rain-delayed Indy 500 when Team Kyle waited out the weather and basically elected to miss the start of that night's Coke 600 in Charlotte? Indy eventually started, Kyle ran the whole thing and got to Charlotte, ready to take over his No. 5 ride, just as that race was officially shortened by rain.
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It was a rotten predicament for Kyle and team owner Rick Hendrick, who'd invested a lot of time, money and sponsor equity for the Indy effort. Few people disagreed with his decision to stick it out at the Brickyard.
Few, but not none.
Hence, a new NASCAR rule this year. If a driver misses a points-paying race for something other than medical reasons but is granted a playoff waiver regardless (as Kyle did last year), he must forfeit all playoff bonus points he's accumulated so far, as well as ANY FUTURE PLAYOFF POINTS.
Yikes.
With that in mind, let's bring back the Weather Dog.
Good news: The tail is wagging. Of three extended-weather forecasts he sniffed, one says 20% of Indy rain on May 25, one says 0%, and the other doesn't stretch that far.
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But as we know, the more extended a forecast, the thinner it is in certainty.
Third Gear: NASCAR's all-time laps leader? Come on
Post-race at Kansas, a neat little sidebar involved news of Kyle going over 10,000 laps led for his career. According to stats from NASCAR, he's the 22nd driver, and the third current racer (after Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin) to reach that mark.
Only another 40,000 or so before he catches King Richard Petty, who, unsurprisingly, is the all-time leader at 51,514. Whaddaya say we rattle off the rest of the top 10, which offers no surprises whatsoever …
2. Cale Yarborough, 31,556; 3. Bobby Allison, 27,556; 4. Dale Earnhardt, 25,714; 5. David Pearson, 25,422; 6. Jeff Gordon, 24,936; 7. Darrell Waltrip 23,134; 8. Rusty Wallace, 19,951; 9. Kyle Busch, 19,441; 10. Jimmie Johnson, 18,941.
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Yes, the King is the King for a reason (200 wins, after all), but that 20,000-lap gap between him and Cale is somewhat deceiving. Keep in mind, for the first decade of Petty's career, when he was most dominant, he was getting between 40-60 starts a year.
Fourth Gear: Brad Keselowski still taking on water
What another Sunday to forget for POBK (Poor ol' Brad Keselowski).
Yet again, there were promising signs. He started 36th due to pre-qualifying issues (no, that wasn't a promising sign) but picked off spots and by the end of Stage 1 was 14th (yes, promising).
He continued moving forward and finished Stage 2 sixth (more promising) and was soon running second to Chase Elliott, which was a promise soon broken when a tire let go and sent Kez into the wall. He finished 37th. Of 38. Of the 36 drivers to start all 12 races, he's 33rd in points.
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Prior to Kansas weekend, Kez made a promotional stop in Southeast Georgia, at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay. The press release described it as an event 'honoring America's undersea war fighters.' He'll carry the group's colors and logo at the Coke 600 on Memorial Day Weekend.
All worthy and good, no doubt. They do important stuff at that base, and all of us on dry land are thankful.
But for symbolism's sake, visiting such a group during your own underwater season might be a tempt of racing fate. Kez might want to visit an aircraft carrier soon.
— Email Ken Willis at [e-mail]
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR, Indy 500 double duty has Kyle Larson at mercy of Weather Dog