"I haven’t been frustrated yet" - Kyle Larson remains optimistic despite an average NASCAR Cup Series title defense in 2022

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson dominated the field in 2021 as he went on to win his first championship with Hendrick Motorsports. The 29-year-old went on to blitz the other drivers as he visited Victory Lane ten times last year.

The current Cup Series season with the new 'Next Gen' cars, however, has not been on the same level for the Elk Grove, California native. The newer cars, acting as an equalizer in the sport, introduced higher levels of parity between teams' performances. Everyone has had to adapt to a brand new car while racing and some have done it better than others. For one, Trackhouse Racing as a team comes to mind.

Kyle Larson is not as far behind the curve as one might expect. The former dirt-track racer has proved his incredible car control on numerous occasions this year. As compared to 2021, however, this year has only been average for the #5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver. He has one win to his name so far in seventeen races.

In a press conference before the Kwik Trip 250 presented by Jockey at Road America, Larson was asked how he felt about his title defense, to which he replied:

“I haven’t been frustrated yet. I think I understand that the season we had last year was hard to repeat, especially going into a season with a new car and all that. I’m sure if we were in last year’s car and I was sitting here with the same stats, I’d probably be frustrated. But I thinking having the understanding that we have a new car, pit stops and everything, that helps kind of forget about the success, I guess, of last year.”

Watch the complete interview below:

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Kyle Larson thinks consistency is key with the Next Gen cars

The 2022 season saw its thirteenth different winner in Tyler Reddick on last weekend's Kwik Trip 250 at Road America. The 'Next Gen' cars have definitely bought an aspect of uncertainty and parity in the sport, which has been the highlight of the year.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson emphasized how consistency is key with the newer cars and teams are working to find the same, saying:

“I think nobody has been dominating. Pretty much everybody has been inconsistent at some point throughout a race every week. Just have to find some consistency and I feel like that’s where you’ll standout across the field.”

Catch Larson racing this Sunday at Quaker State 400 as NASCAR revisits Atlanta Motor Speedway for the second time this year.