5 KYLE LARSON
Age: 30 (July 31, 1992)
Hometown: Elk Grove, California
Resides: Mooresville, North Carolina
Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
Standings: 3rd
No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
BOWLING FOR A DOUBLE AT THE GLEN: Last year at Watkins Glen International, Kyle Larson led the final 26 laps to capture the victory. The win in the 23rd race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season moved the Elk Grove, California, native into the top spot in the points standings – his first time atop the standings during his inaugural season with Hendrick Motorsports.
JUUUUUNIOOOOR: Saturday will mark Larson’s second start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this season. The driver of the No. 88 HendrickCars.com JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro has won four of his last six starts in the Xfinity Series, capturing victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2018. In July of this year, Larson won stages one and two in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Xfinity Series entry before ultimately finishing second at Road America.
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: In seven Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen, Larson has one win, two top-five finishes and four top-10s. In six Xfinity Series starts at the 2.45-mile road course located in New York, the 30-year-old driver has one top-five – a third-place finish in 2016.
KING OF THE ROAD: Larson won three road course events in 2021, the most ever during a NASCAR Cup Series season. Victories at Sonoma Raceway in June, Watkins Glen in August and the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL in October were integral during his 10-win championship season.
BACK NINE: Dating back to June 2021, Larson has been victorious in three of the last nine Cup Series road course events – tops in NASCAR’s premier series. Overall, the 2021 Cup Series champion ranks fourth among active drivers in road course wins (three), one behind Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., who are tied for second.
ROAD COURSE RINGERS: Only two Hendrick Motorsports drivers have scored more wins on road courses than Larson. On serpentine layouts in the Cup Series, the all-time winningest driver is NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon with nine while Chase Elliott has crossed the line first on seven occasions.
GOOD STARTING POINT: With a 6.71 average starting position in seven Watkins Glen Cup Series starts, the defending event winner is tops in this statistical average among active drivers at NASCAR’s highest level. Among drivers with a minimum of three starts, Larson trails only Tony Stewart, who posted a 5.88 average start at the New York track during his NASCAR Hall of Fame career.
YOUR CAR NEEDS: This weekend, Larson will drive the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Cup Series and No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro in the Xfinity Series. 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.
REVVING TO A MILESTONE: The engine shop at Hendrick Motorsports sits five wins away from 500 victories. To date, the company’s engine program is responsible for 336 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series, 122 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, 22 wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and 15 wins in the ARCA Menards Series and K&N Pro Series ranks.
EDGE OF SEVENTEEN: For its three 2022 Xfinity Series races, Hendrick Motorsports will field the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro – the same number Ricky Hendrick drove in the Camping World Truck Series. That number has won 39 times in Xfinity Series history and two of the four drivers to win in it – Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte – would go on to win in the Cup Series with the Rick Hendrick-owned organization. You can see renderings of the Xfinity Series paint scheme here.
GETTING GOING AT THE GLEN: The No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro will be making its final Xfinity Series start of the season with William Byron piloting the ride in Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen International. Kevin Meendering is serving as the team’s crew chief. The organization has 26 wins in the series with Tony Stewart recording the last win to date at Daytona International Speedway in 2009. Last month, Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman each finished second at Road America and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, respectively, in the team’s first Xfinity starts in 13 years.
LEADING THE WAY: With eight wins through 24 NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022, Hendrick Motorsports has earned the most victories so far this season. It is the only four-car team to see all of its drivers win a race this season. The 1,590 laps out front lead all teams in the series by 40 circuits. Teammates Chase Elliott and Byron rank 1-2 in laps led this year.
STARTING STRONG: In six of the last nine road course events with qualifying, the Concord, North Carolina, based team has scored the pole position. During that span, which dates back to 2019, Byron has won three poles, Elliott has had two and Larson got one. In fact, two of the poles came this season with Elliott (at Road America) and Larson (at Sonoma Raceway).
RULERS OF THE ROAD: At 25 wins, Hendrick Motorsports has the most all-time triumphs on road courses in Cup Series history. The two closest teams in this statistic have combined for only 21 wins. Since their inaugural season in 1984, the organization has won 28 percent of road courses events (25 wins in 89 races).
COUNTING ‘EM UP: Seven different drivers have accounted for the 25 road course wins in team history and those seven winners are the most for a Cup Series team on road courses. Jeff Gordon leads the way for the team with nine victories (which are also the most among all drivers) followed by Elliott with seven. Larson and Tim Richmond are tied for third on the list with three wins apiece. Jimmie Johnson, Geoff Bodine and Ricky Rudd each tallied one victory.
WATKINS GLEN WINNERS: Among those 25 serpentine layout wins, nine have come at Watkins Glen – most among all Cup Series teams. Gordon’s four wins are the most for the squad followed by two for Elliott. Richmond, Rudd and Larson each have one win at the track near New York’s Finger Lakes region.
NEW YORK MINUTE: Larson’s win last year came in an event that saw Hendrick Motorsports finish first, second (Elliott) and sixth (Byron). The victory extended the organization’s winning streak at the 2.45-mile venue to three with Elliott’s victories in 2018 and 2019 – there was no 2020 race due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s the second time the team has won three in a row at this track, with Gordon scoring triumphs from 1997 to 1999.
SWEEP SENSATIONS: In the era of stage racing, there have been two times – both by Hendrick Motorsports – when one driver swept every road course stage and won the race. Elliott was the first to do so in his 2019 win at Watkins Glen. Larson also accomplished this with his victory in 2021 at Sonoma.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the difference going from the NASCAR Xfinity Series car to NASCAR Cup Series car: “At Road America, the braking points were pretty similar, which was surprising. I thought the Cup car would brake much deeper. I hope it’s the same this weekend at Watkins Glen (International) because it would really, really help getting into a rhythm quickly for the entire weekend.”
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the benefit of Larson running in the Xfinity (Series) race at Watkins Glen International: “I think him getting the track time is great – not really because of his skill and abilities, but for him to understand the grip level. I know he is going to be fast in the Xfinity car and I know he is going to be fast in our car, but having the extra time to understand the grip level and other nuances of the track that’s different from a year ago. We do have recent test data to go off of and feedback from those tests – but nothing replaces actual track time and the condition of the track and how we approach it.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
