Kyle Larson Has 50 NASCAR Cup Series Wins In An Alternate Timeline

By Gary Gastelu |

Mar 25, 2025

Kyle Larson picked up his 30th career NASCAR Cup Series win at Homestead-Miami this year, which coincidentally put him into 30th on the all-time wins list.

He’s also the winningest driver in the seventh generation Cup Car that launched in 2022, but thinks he’d have a lot more if NASCAR hadn’t made the change.

“I think if we would still have the 2021 car, I would have about 50 Cup wins right now. I think switching to this car has limited us from winning,” Larson said during his post-race press conference.

The seventh generation car is drastically different from it’s predecessor. The biggest change was the switch from a solid rear axle to a fully independent suspension, but it also moved from an H-pattern four-speed transmission to a 5-speed transaxle with a sequential shifter. The steering was also changed from recirculating ball setup to rack and pinion, with all of the updates aimed at making in more like a modern sports car and more suitable for use on road and street tracks.

Several formerly dominant drivers, including Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., had trouble making the transition, having spent most of their youths and professional careers driving cars setup more like the sixth generation Cup Series car.

That’s also true for Kyle Larson, who came up through dirt midgets and sprints, but the 32-year-old has proven to be a unique talent who excels in most of the cars he gets into. Nevertheless, he’s had to work at mastering the seventh generation Cup Series car.

“I don’t know. I think just being with a good team and being able to adapt to new things is something you try to pride yourself on. I think that’s an area where the 5 team really excels and the 24 as well. I think we probably share or are top two in most Next Gen wins. Young, adaptable drivers and teams,” he said.

“Yeah, they’re difficult cars to drive, though. You have to run really hard, and I think that probably benefits a guy like myself.”

Larson reached 30 wins in 371 starts, which is fewer than Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and several other top drivers needed to reach the milestone.

He’ll be looking to add another on Sunday, March 30th at Martinsville Speedway, where he has one career win that he picked up at the 2023 spring race in the seventh generation car.