| 5 KYLE LARSON Age: 28 (July 31, 1992) Hometown: Elk Grove, California Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels Standings: 3rd |
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| No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE VEGAS VICTORY: Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, led 103 laps en route to victory in Sunday’s 400-mile race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It marked Larson’s seventh career NASCAR Cup Series win and first as a Hendrick Motorsports driver. Visiting victory lane in only his fourth race for the 13-time Cup Series championship organization, Larson won in fewer starts than any previous driver for car owner Rick Hendrick. BRIDESMAID NO MORE: Prior to Sunday’s victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Larson had scored nine runner-up finishes – the most all-time without a Cup Series victory – in 71 career starts on 1.5-mile tracks. The win in his 72nd attempt moved him up to third in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings – 40 markers behind leader Denny Hamlin – and all but secured him a spot in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. RANKING UP: In four starts in 2021, Larson is tied for most wins (one), most top-10 finishes (three) and has run the most laps inside the top 10 (676) – 87 more than any other competitor. He is one of only three drivers to complete all 804 laps this season – Hamlin and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott being the other two to do so. Larson’s 109 laps led trail only Hamlin (150) and teammate William Byron (127). DESERT HEAT: Although he has not won at Phoenix Raceway in 13 Cup Series starts, Larson has scored six top-six finishes there – all in his last eight starts at the 1-mile oval. His best finish of second occurred in this race in 2017. NICE TRIBUTE: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com paint scheme Larson drove to victory last weekend and will drive again Sunday is based on the design Ricky Hendrick, the late son of owner Rick Hendrick, drove to a win in Kansas Speedway’s inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event in 2001. The following season, the paint scheme appeared on the No. 5 Chevrolet driven by the younger Hendrick in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. CLIFF’S NOTES: Sunday’s victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked Cliff Daniels’ first as a Cup Series crew chief. The Smithfield, Virginia, native was atop the pit box for seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson during 2020 and a portion of the 2019 season. In Johnson’s final Cup Series start, Daniels guided him to a fifth-place finish at Phoenix Raceway in November 2020. YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will again drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. From the convenience of home, customers can select the category, make, model and vehicle packages that are important to them from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs available at HendrickCars.com. The website also makes it easy for customers to find one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 93 dealership locations nationwide. |
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on strategy now that he has a win: “We put an emphasis on winning and approach every race wanting to win, so I don’t think our strategy will change, but I haven’t talked to Cliff (Daniels) about it yet. We can definitely be more aggressive during the stages to possibly get more playoff points.” Larson on early season success: “Part of me is surprised, but part of me is not. I thought it might take a little bit of time for us to gel as a team. But we had all the tools to run well and battle for wins, and we were able to win at Las Vegas. But that was last Sunday and our focus is now on Phoenix and what we can do to run well and hopefully win there.” Larson on racing at Phoenix: “It’s a fun racetrack where each corner is different. I like tracks like that. We’ve had a lot of speed this year and (teammate) Chase (Elliott) won there last year, so I’m hoping we’ll be fast again this weekend.” Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on using last week’s win as motivation: “What we’ve been through the last few years, I had the feeling that once we did get a win it would help reaffirm the focus of our team. We’ve done a nice job of maintaining focus to go compete at a high level every week. The win reaffirms what we have been doing all along works and we don’t plan changing much. We have good notes from Jimmie and we also have a lot of good notes from Chase and the 9 team – not only from their win in the fall but they have been really good there the past few races. Our company as a whole has been good there. We have been studying up on Kyle and his trends at Phoenix the best we can and are looking forward to this weekend’s race.” |
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
