“Nobody else has more than 3”: Bob Pockrass gives his reasons for why Kyle Larson is the favorite for Cup Series glory

Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass recently shared his thoughts about why Kyle Larson is the top contender for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Larson is currently leading the playoff standings with a total of 4052 points (a 33-point advantage over other drivers). The Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team's success this season has shown that he can compete well on different types of tracks.

In a recent episode of 'Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour,' Pockrass said that Kyle Larson is ahead of other playoff drivers. Larson has six wins, 13 top-fives and 16 top-10 finishes till now.

"Oh, for sure. He's had six wins, nobody else has more than three,” Pockrass said (08:52).

While Denny Hamlin has been a consistent challenger, Pockrass emphasized that Larson has been the fastest driver this year.

“You know, I asked Larson, ‘Is there anybody else like that?’ He said Denny has been the driver that he’s felt is as consistent on speed as they’ve been throughout the year. I think a lot of people look at Christopher Bell, and obviously his strength at a track like Phoenix. I think week-in and week-out, when you say, ‘Who are going to be the fastest cars?’ Larson is there every week,” he added. (09:15)

Larson is also the defending winner at this Sunday's track in Las Vegas with the best average finish (9.3) among active drivers at this track.

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"It just gets tougher and tougher" - Kyle Larson on the competition in the playoffs

Kyle Larson talked about the competition getting tougher as playoffs move forward and how his team's extra points can help later.

"It just gets tougher and tougher as the playoff field gets smaller. It moves the cut line a little closer to you. We’ve had a good regular season and playoffs to get lots of playoff points to allow us to have these unfortunate results to start each round," Larson said (via ReviewJournal).

Larson won the South Point 400 last year. He has also had three wins, eight top-fives, and 12 top-ten finishes at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

"For us, these next three are great tracks for us. I just look at it as a really good opportunity. We would love to win, but if we could just go there and perform how we typically do, we could have a really good point gap before we get to Martinsville,” he added (via NASCAR).

The next races in the Round of 8 are at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville. Kyle Larson won the race at Homestead in 2022 and has an average finish of 13 at the track. He has also finished in the top six in his last four races at Martinsville, with a win in April last year.