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
ON THE MARCH: In March at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson led 269 of 325 laps but was passed with nine to go and finished second. The driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE won both stages and now holds the best average finish (12.14) at the 1.5-mile track among active drivers.
PETTY, PEARSON AND LARSON: Larson has led the most laps in each of the last four races held on 1.5-mile tracks, tying Richard Petty and David Pearson all-time for most consecutive on 1.5-mile tracks. The Elk Grove, California, native can set the new mark if he leads the most laps on Sunday in Atlanta.
TWO-FER: Entering 2021, Larson had never won in the NASCAR Cup Series on a 1.5-mile track. He snapped that streak of 0-for-71 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and followed that up in May with another victory at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway. Overall this season on 1.5-mile tracks, Larson is the only competitor with multiple stage wins (seven) and he has led 55% (836) of the laps on those intermediate-style tracks.
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 nine points-paying events since, Larson has scored eight top-10s including three wins and four second-place finishes. In that span, he has moved up seven spots to second in the standings and now trails by only three points.
NEARLY HALF: Larson has finished first or second in nine of 20 (45%) Cup Series races this season. He won at Nashville Superspeedway, Sonoma Raceway, Charlotte and Las Vegas while posting second-place finishes at Pocono Raceway, Circuit of The Americas, Dover International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Atlanta. He also won the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway in June.
TOP OF THE BOARD: Through 20 of 36 Cup Series races, Larson leads the series in wins (four), second-place finishes (five), stage wins (12), playoff points (32), and laps led (1,441). He is tied for most top-five finishes (11), most top-10s (14) and most pole positions (one).
SUMMER ROAD TRIPPING: Last week, Larson participated in several Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek events. On Monday night at Lincoln Speedway, the 28-year-old driver finished third. On Tuesday at Grandview Speedway and Wednesday at Port Royal Speedway, Larson crossed under the checkered flag first. This week, he will swap disciplines and is scheduled to race a dirt late model at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina, on Thursday before heading to Maryville, Tennessee, Friday and Saturday for events at Smoky Mountain Speedway.
FOUR LESS: At 13.65 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 more than 300 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.
IN MEMORY: This Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the four Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE race cars of Hendrick Motorsports will carry a special decal in memory of longtime team member Mark Graves, who passed away over the weekend. Graves was hired in 1984 by legendary engine builder Randy Dorton and built the engine that powered Hendrick Motorsports’ first NASCAR Cup Series race win. He retired from the team’s engine department at the end of the 2014 season.
WIN 10: On Sunday at Road America, Chase Elliott delivered Hendrick Motorsports’ 10th win in 20 NASCAR Cup Series races held thus far in 2021. The all-time record for wins at this point in a Cup Series season is 16 by Carl Kiekhafer Racing in 1956, followed by five different teams that won 10 of the first 20 on six different occasions. Hendrick Motorsports is the only organization to accomplish it twice (2007 and 2021).
ROAD BOOKENDS: Going back nearly a full season, Hendrick Motorsports has won 15 of the last 34 NASCAR Cup Series races – or 44%. The team’s roll began in August 2020 with an Elliott victory at the DAYTONA Road Course. In the prior 133 races, Hendrick Motorsports had 14 points-paying wins.
EIGHT WEEK STREAK: Including the June 13 NASCAR All-Star Race won by Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports has posted a Cup Series victory in eight straight weeks, winning eight of a possible nine races. The team’s only loss in that timeframe came June 27 in the second event of the Pocono Raceway doubleheader.
TO THE POINT: In the last eight points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races, Hendrick Motorsports has won seven times, finished 1-2 four times and placed second five times. With 32 total entries in those eight events (four cars per race), the team has posted 18 top-five results and 22 top-10s. It has won 10 of 17 stages and led 1,242 of 1,578 laps (79%).
STAGE GAUGE: Hendrick Motorsports’ 16 stage wins in 2021 are the most ever by a team through the first 20 races of a season. The NASCAR Cup Series incorporated stage racing in 2017.
TRACKING INTERMEDIATES: Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway will be the sixth of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season on a 1.5-mile track. At the intermediate venues this year, Hendrick Motorsports leads all organizations in wins (three), pole positions (one), top-five finishes (10), top-10s (14), laps led (1,037), average finish (9.55) and stage wins (eight). Its 1,037 laps led are the most in history by a team through the first five intermediate races of a season.
ATL CONTROL: With 14 NASCAR Cup Series wins at Atlanta, Hendrick Motorsports is the track’s winningest team. It is tied with Wood Brothers Racing for the most different AMS winners (six) and has gone to victory lane in four of the last 11 races there. Jeff Gordon (five wins), Jimmie Johnson (five), Kasey Kahne, Jerry Nadeau, Ken Schrader and Darrell Waltrip have all won for car owner Rick Hendrick at the Georgia track.
LEADING ATLANTA: Hendrick Motorsports is 80 laps from breaking the Atlanta Motor Speedway track record for laps led by a team, which is held by Wood Brothers Racing (3,407 led). Most recently, Hendrick Motorsports led 271 laps there in the March 21 Cup Series event.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on leading laps but finishing second at Atlanta in March: “I definitely learned a lot in the moment, but I can learn even more by rewatching the race. You learn from everything – the good races and you definitely learn from the ones you feel got away. The track will certainly be different with the temperatures and the heat, so we’ll need to learn quickly and adapt quickly so we can hopefully battle for stage wins, the race win and the playoff bonus points that goes along with that.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, on Atlanta in July versus March: “The track will be a lot different. In March, the track temperature was not warm and the ambient air temperature was pretty mild. We’re trying to anticipate what the track will do with more sunlight exposure, a hot ambient temperature and a really hot track temperature that will take a lot of grip out of the cars, in general, and change the balance. Hopefully, we anticipate that correctly and also just make sure we manage the race correctly – not going too hard at the beginning of the run to ensure we have enough at the end of a run. I think we have learned a lot since then, so hopefully we can apply that and be really good on Sunday.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
