Dale Earnhardt Jr. suggested Kyle Larson’s attempt at ‘The Double’ derailed his form in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season – but he’s found his groove again thanks to his form on dirt. 

Last season, Larson won the Brickyard 400. This time around, the former Cup Series champion will officially compete in both the Cup and Xfinity Series races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, joining Katherine Legge as one of the few drivers to race both in 2025..

On Monday, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Larson will be driving the No.17 car, which featured a new driver in Jake Finch at Dover last weekend. The reigning Brickyard 400 winner will look to defend his crown, and Earnhardt Jr. believes Larson is beginning to discover his form. 

Larson finished fourth at Dover in his last race, which was his first top-10 finish since Pocono in June and his first top-five finish since Michigan two weeks before Pocono. Since attempting the Indy 500-Coca-Cola 600 double in May,  which he won’t do again, Larson has tallied four top-10 finishes in eight races. 

Earnhardt Jr. believes the double attempt derailed Larson’s NASCAR form. On his ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast, the 50-year-old said: “All of those things didn’t go as well, or as easy or as smooth as he had hoped. I think that kind of knocked him off his perch.

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“The schedule wouldn’t allow him to find some consistency to be able to gain confidence and get the team back to where it needs to be, everybody feeling good about everything. Over the last handful of weeks, I’m sure that they’ve all been questioning, are we doing everything we need to do? … They’ve decided not to panic, get back to the basics, get in the part of the schedule where they might can find some peace of mind.”

Earnhardt Jr. thinks Larson started to find his rhythm and form thanks to “success in the dirt car,” which has helped him turn around his season. He added: “When he starts doing good in that, it’s like everything starts getting better. 

“His Cup stuff starts getting better as well. He needs to be behind the wheel of a race car, and he needs to be winning for him to get up on plane and be where he wants to be mentally.

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“He’s no different than anybody else, in terms of when you don’t have the results and the results are harder to come by. He’s just as human as the rest of us, and he’s going to have some self-doubt, or what am I doing differently? What should I maybe do differently or new? 

“They are going to have those internal conversations as a team. I feel like that’s all in the review mirror now.”

Larson is looking to win his fourth Cup Series race of the 2025 season when he competes in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 27.