Kevin Harvick Exposes Major Kyle Larson Issue Amidst 40-Race Winless Streak

The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season so far hasn’t been kind to defending champion Kyle Larson. He has consistently failed to win races by taking advantage of his front-raw finishing streak and his mistakes on the track leading to wrecks also didn’t help. But the struggles of the No:5 team isn’t as straight forward as other elite racers in the same spot.

2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick talked about it in the latest episode of his podcast. He highlighted how the No:5 team has been the teams with the most stage points this season while not being able to make it into victory lane. It’s confusing for the pundit, as the stat shows the HMS driver is still running good amidst struggles, but there is something that is missing.

Well, it’s really confusing because if I look at the points and I would tell you that Kyle Larson is sixth. And would any of you believe that he scored the most stage points? That’s why they’re sixth. He’s scored 169. The next guy is Ryan Blaney at 157… So as much as we want to talk about Kyle Larson being off, which he’s off, he hasn’t been to victory lane in 40-some races.

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

The 2026 season so far has been similar to how the last 20 races of the 2025 season played out for Kyle Larson. He won the championship, taking advantage of his consistency as he didn’t win a single race in the late half of the race, with Denny Hamlin chocking on the finale also helping his cause at the end. But unlike last season, the veteran hasn’t earned enough points from wins to offset his mistakes.

We’ve seen that a few times over the last little bit. And that’s the part that concerns me is when you just have those lapses in concentration and just make a bad move because you don’t have the moments where you’re able to just go out and win a couple more races to make up for the mistakes that you had made.

Kevin Harvick added via Happy Hour podcast.

Further talking about the point, Kevin Harvick shared his confusing about what is causing the incidents involving the No:5 car regularly, is it desperation or lack of concentration? They won’t be challenging for the championship against the like of Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, alongside Ryan Blaney, if the streak continues.

So, I don’t know whether to take the mistake this weekend with the block as, ‘Hey, he’s desperate trying to make a move,’ or a lapse in concentration and made a mistake. That’s the confusing part because you look at the stats and they’re not that bad and scoring the most stage points, but it’s the goose egg in the win column. That is the part that’s hard to believe.

Kevin Harvick asserted.

Kevin Harvick slams claim that winless streak isn’t career-ending for Kyle Larson

Later in the same conversation, Harvick talked about some claims that Larson is losing his charm. He asserted that just like he came out of a disappointing winless streak in the past, the HMS driver would do that same. It’s part of racing for every elite driver that has ever been part of NASCAR.

You know, when you’re talking about a year’s worth of losses for Larson, not being in Victory Lane, does that surprise me? Yes. Is what I’d say. Oh, it’s career-ending. No. And because it happens, I mean, it’s happened to me. I mean, it’s just part of what you go through in NASCAR racing. And the only part that worries me about Larson is just those random weird kind of mistakes that shouldn’t happen at this point with where he’s at.

Kevin Harvick said.

The comments from the ex-SHR driver gives a lot of hope for the No:5 team fans, who is hoping to see “Young Money” comeback to victory lane sooner than later. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the star driver in the coming days.

Also Read: Denny Hamlin Exposes How Attitude is Costing Carson Hocevar Race Wins