The interesting thing about Kyle Larson right now is that he has somehow found a way to criticize the points system while sitting on top of it. That was the backdrop when Larson arrived at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a 26-point lead, two wins in the first four races of the Chase. He had just put together a 76-point masterpiece at Kansas, the first maximum-point day under the new format, yet he was not interested in pretending the championship math was perfect.

Asked by Jeff Gluck about the oversized role of stage points, Larson delivered the kind of sarcastic answer that usually gets a laugh before people realize there is a real argument attached to it.

“We’re the only series in the world that gives participation points.” Larson later sharpened the joke by calling them “little participation awards mid-competition.” 

The wording is deliberately provocative, but his actual complaint is fairly specific. He understands why NASCAR rewards drivers for running well throughout a race. What he questions is how much those intermediate points should influence a championship that is now decided by cumulative scoring over 10 races.

Understanding his point of view is important here. NASCAR is not literally handing points to everyone who shows up. The top 10 in each stage score, with 10 points going to the stage winner and one to 10th. The race winner gets 55 points, with another point available for the fastest lap. Sweep both stages, win the race and take the fastest-lap bonus, and a driver can leave with 76 points. Kyle Larson just did that at Kansas, leading 235 of 267 laps on his way to the maximum.

What Larson is really pushing back against is the idea that a race can effectively pay out championship points three times. And Ryan Preece is a useful example of this.

Preece has finished 10th in three of the first four Chase races, including Kansas, and RFK Racing noted that he has been remarkably consistent throughout this stretch. Yet he entered Las Vegas 14th in the Chase, 173 points behind Kyle Larson. His deficit obviously is not all about stage points. 

Larson has won twice, finished second and fifth, and has been scoring heavily at both the stage breaks and the checkered flag. Still, Preece’s results show how a driver can repeatedly finish around 10th and make far less progress than someone collecting stage points near the front.

There is also a delicious bit of irony here: Larson is arguably the driver who has exploited the system most effectively. Kansas did it for him. He won both stages, led 235 laps, set the fastest lap, and won the race, turning a one-point advantage over Denny Hamlin into 26 points in a single afternoon. NASCAR itself called it the first maximum 76-point performance under the new system.

Kyle Larson is not saying the stage points shouldn’t be there. His point is that the final finishing result should have a little more weight in determining the championship. The new Chase adds fuel to the fire. There are 16 drivers, 10 races, no eliminations, and no reset before the championship finale at Homestead. Every point earned at Las Vegas stays on the board. That brings the conversation back to Hamlin, because Larson still does not seem convinced his 26-point advantage is the whole story right now.

“I still believe Toyota & Denny will be the best this weekend,” Kyle Larson said.

That is not empty respect. Hamlin has won the last two Cup races at Las Vegas, including March’s race, when he led 134 of 267 laps despite a speeding penalty. He also entered this weekend with an extraordinary record on the traditional 1.5-mile tracks.

Kansas was the first serious dent in that narrative. Larson controlled the race. Hamlin finished third and still scored 51 points, but Larson’s 76-point haul created the 25-point swing that led to the current championship gap.

Vegas, then, is a useful test. Kyle Larson has three Cup wins at the track and has plenty of history there, while Hamlin has the more recent streak. With Charlotte coming next, these three 1.5-mile races could tell us whether Kansas was the start of a genuine shift or simply one weekend when Larson’s No. 5 was operating on another level.

There is another part to this particular Vegas weekend. Larson’s No. 5 carries a tribute to Kyle Busch, including the “Tiny Kyle” nickname Busch gave him. Busch’s Celebration of Life is scheduled for October 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Larson among those who will share memories of the two-time Cup champion.

So Larson’s coming to Vegas with a championship lead, questioning the very system that helped with it, and paying tribute to a driver who once gave him a nickname that has now returned to the No. 5 Chevrolet.

For all the talk about points, though, Kyle Larson knows the simplest way to settle the argument: run well when the race ends. And if Hamlin really is the man to beat in Sin City, Larson may have to collect a few more of those “participation awards” before the checkered flag.