Kyle Larson's second-place finish at Kansas Speedway on Sunday stretched his winless streak to 33 races, tying for the sixth-longest drought by a reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion in the sport's history.
Larson sits fifth in the current points standings and remains among the series' top drivers since claiming the championship last fall. He commented on the streak ahead of Bristol, when the streak was 31 races long, saying it hasn't bothered him much, but he's eager to win again.
"We want to get back to victory lane. We're working as hard as we ever have worked, I feel like, as a group," Larson said. "It's just gotten really tough for whatever reason."
Larson noted that winning dirt races during the offseason has helped keep the drought from feeling as prolonged as it is on paper. He also believes his team has been closer than the results suggest.
"I feel like we could have won four to five races in this time span of not winning, maybe even more. It just hasn't happened," Larson said. "Can't lose focus on the process and just keep working hard."
Larson was one lap away from ending the streak on Sunday at Kansas after a great jump on the race's final restart. Tyler Reddick pushed ahead of Larson on the final lap, though, to take his fifth win of the season.
"I know a lot of times we've made winning maybe look easy, but it's not, and I've never felt that it was easy," Larson said.
Larson still has considerable ground to cover before approaching the all-time record, held by Benny Parsons. The 1973 champion won just once that season, went winless throughout 1974, and did not return to victory lane until the 1975 Daytona 500 — a stretch of 42 races.
Dale Earnhardt holds the second-longest such drought at 39 races. The 1980 champion won five races and the title that year before finally winning again at Darlington in 1982.
Brad Keselowski went 37 races without a win during and after his 2012 championship campaign before ending the drought at Charlotte in 2013. Ned Jarrett went 35 races between wins following his 1961 title. Matt Kenseth, the 2003 champion, also went 35 races before winning at Rockingham in 2004.
Larson is currently tied with Kyle Busch, who endured a 33-race winless stretch following his 2019 championship before returning to victory lane at Texas in 2020.
Red Byron, Bill Rexford, Joe Weatherly, Ned Jarrett, and Alan Kulwicki never won again after their respective championship seasons.