5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 28 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 2nd
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No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE
OH SO CLOSE: On Saturday at Pocono Raceway, Kyle Larson entered the 325-mile event searching for his fourth consecutive points-paying victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. Leading with one corner to go, a flat tire on the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE sent Larson into the wall. The 28-year-old driver was still able to finish ninth while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman secured the victory. On Sunday in a backup car, Larson started from the rear of the field and saved enough fuel at the end of the 350-mile race to finish second.
CLOSING IN: Following the season’s 11th race at Kansas Speedway in May, Larson ranked ninth in the driver standings, 144 markers behind the leader. In eight points-paying events since, Larson has scored eight top-10s, including three wins and four second-place finishes, for a 2.5-average result. In that span, he has moved up seven spots to second in the standings and now trails the leader by only two points.
FIRST TIMER: In June at Sonoma Raceway, Larson won both stages and led 57 of 92 laps en route to his first Cup Series road course victory. Overall, he has 17 starts on road courses in the Cup Series with three top-five finishes, six top-10s and four stage victories (second-most all-time). In sports cars, Larson competed in the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2014 through 2016 and was victorious in 2015.
NEARLY HALF: Larson has finished first or second in nine of 19 (47%) NASCAR Cup Series races this season. He won at Nashville Superspeedway, Sonoma, Charlotte Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway while posting second-place finishes at Pocono, Circuit of The Americas, Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in June.
TOP OF THE BOARD: Through 19 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (four), second-place finishes (five), stage wins (12), playoff points (32), top-five finishes (11) and laps led (1,441). He is tied for most pole positions (one) and most top-10s (14).
BEEN THERE BEFORE: In June 2013, Larson competed in the NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America. After qualifying 13th, the Elk Grove, California, native drove the No. 32 entry to a seventh-place finish at the Wisconsin track.
SUMMER ROAD TRIP: This week, Larson will participate in several Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek events. On Monday night at Lincoln Speedway, Larson finished third and, on Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway, he finished first. On Wednesday night, he will race at Port Royal Speedway and on Thursday evening at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland.
QUICK WORK: At 13.61 seconds, the No. 5 pit crew owns the quickest average time for four-tire pit stops in 2021. The over-the-wall crew is comprised of gasman Brandon Harder, jackman Brandon Johnson, tire carrier R.J. Barnette and tire changers Donnie Tasser (front) and Calvin Teague (rear).
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will 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.
WE’RE HIRING: Hendrick Automotive Group is hiring 300-plus technicians at its dealerships throughout the country. Positions are open for all skill levels and offer tuition and training reimbursement. Interested people can apply at HendrickCars.com.
STAYING OUT FRONT: Through the last seven races, Hendrick Motorsports has six points-paying wins, five runner-up placements and has finished 1-2 in four of those races. Across all four teams, the drivers have totaled 17 top-five finishes, 21 top-10s, nine stage wins of the 15 completed and led a combined 1,203 of the 1,516 laps raced, or 79%.
CROWN THE KINGS: Hendrick Motorsports continues to show its road course strength, taking home wins in six of the last seven road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series. The four drivers have worked to score nine stage wins and have led 436 laps across the last seven road course events, starting with Chase Elliott’s win at Watkins Glen in August 2019 and stretching to its most recent win at Sonoma in June. Elliott currently leads all active drivers with the most road course wins (six).
SEVEN TIMES THE FUN: Hendrick Motorsports’ 22 road course victories have come at the hands of seven different drivers, the most of any team in Cup Series history. Jeff Gordon (nine), Elliott (six), Tim Richmond (three), Geoff Bodine (one), Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, and Ricky Rudd all have brought home victories from the twisting venues.
NOT DONE YET: Through the first 19 races in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Hendrick Motorsports already has nine wins, the second-most victories at this point in the year in organization history. The four teammates now will try to earn double-digit wins for the first time since 2014 when the organization took home 13 total wins. That season, Hendrick Motorsports drivers Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson each had four wins and Kasey Kahne had one.
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: Hendrick Motorsports’ pit crews are performing at the top of their game, with three teams currently holding the fastest average four-tire pit stop times. The No. 5 team leads the Cup Series field with an average pit stop time of 13.61 seconds, followed by the No. 9 team with an average time of 13.70 seconds. The No. 48 team clocks in third with an average four-tire pit stop time of 13.71 seconds. The No. 24 crew rounds out the Hendrick Motorsports stable with an average time of 14.0 seconds.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on what he thinks of Road America: “I’ve raced there before in an Xfinity car in 2013. I remember it was a really fun racetrack – a really long racetrack. I’m definitely excited to get back there this weekend because it’s a really cool place. Whether on the simulator or iRacing, it’s good to get visuals of elevation changes ahead of time.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on his previous Road America experience: “Kyle has raced there before and I did in Xfinity, as well, but there’s not much you can pull from those past experiences. It’s been such a long time, so we’re trying to take a fresh look at understanding the race. We’ll go back and watch some Xfinity races from the past couple of years to try to get a feel for what is important there, what do we need to attack and what we need to tune.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
