NASCAR champion Kyle Larson reveals Hendrick Motorsports advantage for 2026

NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson has revealed a key reason why he believes The Chase will benefit Hendrick Motorsports this season and beyond.

Larson won the Cup Series title at Phoenix in November, and that could prove to be the last time a driver wins the chip through a playoff format, with NASCAR ditching them entirely over the offseason.

It wasn't quite the full 36-race points format some were hoping for. There will still be a regular season and postseason, with the championship now set to be decided across a number of races at the end of the campaign in a return to The Chase.

However, Larson believes that the change is to his and his team's benefit.

NASCAR TODAY: Clash action canceled and Cup Series star reveals Kyle Larson anger

Larson: The Chase suits Hendrick Motorsports

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, Larson argues that Hendrick Motorsports' consistency could prove key when fighting for championships this season and in the coming years under the new rules.

“I think probably all of us were happy to hear of the format change,” Larson said, via NASCAR.com.

“I mean, I think your championship contenders in the playoff format are gonna be the same championship contenders in this format.

"It’s just a larger sample size is gonna be much nicer. A lot can happen in a three-race mini-series that can take you out of it.

"And then, yeah, from the championship to come down to Phoenix, it’s just there are some teams that are better equipped for that style track.

"So, yeah, just the larger sample size is gonna be better, and I think would suit Hendrick Motorsports better.”

What has NASCAR said about The Chase?

The new format clearly pleases Larson and other drivers, but NASCAR is hoping that the fans will feel the same way.

Plenty within the NASCAR community had been calling for a return to a full 36-race championship, and although The Chase is not that, it does put more emphasis on consistency across the season and drop some of the gimmicks people previously complained about.

“The biggest thing was looking at who we wanted to be as a sport going forward, and that included really a focus on our core fan base and who had been with us for a long, long time and gotten the sport to where it was. So we wanted our future format to reflect that,” NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell said when The Chase return was announced earlier this month.

“A lot of things you’re going to see and how we talked to the fans, from an overall NASCAR standpoint, was going to really embrace that hardcore fan, and so we felt like the format needed to absolutely reflect that.”