NASCAR champion Kyle Larson pushes back on media narrative he disagrees with

NASCAR champion Kyle Larson has pushed back against what he calls the media narrative that racing in the Cup Series has changed since the return of The Chase.

Ahead of the 2026 season, NASCAR announced a major shakeup to its season format, ditching the playoffs completely and returning to a Chase to decide the winner of the championship.

The Chase now puts greater emphasis on the regular season, with 'win and you're in' having been scrapped, and drivers having to earn their place in the postseason based on their regular season points position.

Ahead of the season, it was thought that this could change the racing in the sport, with drivers being less desperate for a win that would see them qualify for the playoffs and instead needing to maximize their points finish at any given race.

Kyle Larson pushes back on The Chase media narrative

Clearly, that's a narrative Larson believes is still being pushed and disagrees with, as he made clear speaking to the media at Chicagoland this weekend.

“Yeah, for me, I’ve felt this way all year, I know a lot of media keeps trying to push this narrative that the racing is different now that points matter, but I don't think the racing has changed at all," said Larson.

"I think it still is, as he mentioned, as chaotic as it has always been. We were still racing for points before."

Larson still a fan of The Chase

Despite not feeling it has had much of an impact on the racing, Larson says that he is still a fan of the change, praising the greater emphasis on points this year and stating that the old system was confusing.

"I will say, though, that what I've appreciated throughout it is I can pull up Jayski right after the race and see the points and actually know where everybody's at," he added.

"It was really confusing before. With the old system, you basically just waited until after Daytona and see where you're at. Now, it's fun to follow along; see what drivers are around the cutoff to make the Chase and all that.

"So, yeah, you pay attention to the points more, but I wouldn't say the points are any more important than they were and the racing has not changed.”

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