NASCAR champion Kyle Larson addresses long wait for Cup Series victory

Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson can't quite believe it's been almost a year since his last NASCAR Cup Series victory.

The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet lifted his second Cup Series championship at Phoenix in November, but he didn't have to win the race to do so, finishing 3rd on that occasion.

In fact, Larson didn't win a single race in the playoffs last season, with his points total in each round enough to see him progress through to the championship four and eventually win the title.

Larson's last win came all the way back at Kansas in early May last year, 31 long Cup Series races ago.

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Larson reflects on Cup Series winless streak

Speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Larson was asked whether or not it felt like he had gone as long without a win, or whether his championship win at Phoenix in November had masked that.

“Yes and no,” he explained to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass. “I would say more no than yes.

“And I think too, you know, running dirt races and getting wins in that probably makes it seem like it hasn't been that long ago.

"It's kind of wild to think that it's almost been a year since I've won because yeah, I don't know, I don't feel like we're that bad.

“And then yeah, I think ultimately celebrating the championship in Phoenix, that felt like a win in a lot of ways.”

Larson: We’re working harder than ever

The Hendrick Motorsports star continued, revealing that he and the team are working harder than ever to get that next victory and back into Victory Lane.

“Ultimately, we want to get back to Victory Lane. We're working as hard as we ever have worked, I feel like, as a group, and we want to win; it's just gotten really tough for whatever reason," he continued.

“Got some good tracks coming up for us, and hopefully we can do a good job and execute, but this series is tough.

“I know a lot of times we've made winning maybe look easy, but it's not and I've never felt that it was easy. I just gotta keep working at it.”