Unsatisfied Kyle Larson blames NASCAR’s NextGen machine for ‘limiting’ his bold prediction

Kyle Larson blamed NASCAR's Next-Gen car for failing to score more race wins. The Hendrick Motorsports star believes he would've amassed over 50 career victories if the previous Gen 6 car were still on the field.

Larson, pilot of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro, started driving for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, the final season before NASCAR switched to the current Next-Gen car (Gen 7). He dominated that season, winning 10 races and his first Cup Series championship.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post by NASCAR Insider Matt Weaver, Kyle Larson claimed the Next-Gen car limited the Chevrolet-affiliated team from winning more races.

"I think if we would still have the 2021 car, I would have about 50 Cup wins right now. I think switching to this car has limited us from winning," Weaver quoting Larson.

The X update follows Kyle Larson's recent win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his first for the 2025 campaign. Leading for 19 laps, the Californian beat HMS teammate Alex Bowman to the line by 1.205 seconds, with Bubba Wallace finishing third. After the Straight Talk 400, the 32-year-old climbed up to second place in the points standings between William Byron and Alex Bowman.

Since the introduction of the Next-Gen car in 2022, Larson has won 14 of his 30 career victories. 24 race wins came at HMS, while the other six were earned during his time with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Kyle Larson drives the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports - Source: Imagn

The No. 5 driver will continue racking up wins with 30 races left on the 2025 calendar. The next race weekend will be held at Martinsville Speedway where Larson only won once in 2023.

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"One of the coolest wins": Kyle Larson on 30th career victory at Homestead-Miami

Despite a tough race weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Kyle Larson triumphed over the field and won the 267-lap contest. In a post-race interview, he said the win was one of the "coolest" he had in his 10 years in the Cup Series.

For context, Larson came short of a win in a Round of 8 race at the Miami track last year, with Tyler Reddick taking the checkered flag. The No. 5 driver eventually failed to advance to the Championship 4.

Moreover, the Hendrick Motorsports ace only qualified 14th for the recently concluded race.

"Proud of myself, proud of the team. Just a lot of gritty hard work there today between damage on pit road... qualifying bad, bad restarts, all that stuff," Kyle Larson said (via NASCAR) [0:41]

The 2021 NASCAR champ, who picked up 16 points in stages one and two, added:

"Super pumped. One of the coolest wins I think in my Cup career just because of all the heartbreak I've had here. The heartbreak yesterday. To just keep my head down and keep digging feels really good." (0:56 onwards)

Meanwhile, HMS teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron finished second and 12th, respectively. Chase Elliott had the worst result among the team after crossing the line in 18th place.