Hendrick Motorsports, 40 NASCAR wins in 40 days: Kyle Larson, No. 5 team win championship at Phoenix

Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a 40-part series highlighting 40 of the greatest wins in the history of Hendrick Motorsports to finish its 40th anniversary season. A new installment will be released each day from Nov. 22, 2024 through New Year’s Eve. Votes were taken from Hendrick Motorsports employees as well as representatives of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Racing Insights with all unanimous selections being ushered in automatically. The remaining wins were deliberated and decided upon by a small panel.  

CONCORD, N.C. - For all of the criticism of the current NASCAR Cup Series playoff system, there is no denying the drama and the compelling moments it produces. 

When the caution flag waved with 30 laps remaining in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team, knew that one of those moments had arrived. 

His driver, Kyle Larson, who had dominated portions of the race and a majority of the season, was running fourth late in the third stage after a shaky pit stop and in a car that was good on short runs but lagged a bit on long runs. 

But that caution gave the No. 5 team one more chance. Daniels knew a defining championship moment had arrived. 

And as champions do, his squad came through. 

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“Our pit crew had a Game 7 moment of bases loaded, bottom of the 9th (inning), two outs, down by three runs and they hit a grand slam to get us off pit road first,” Daniels recalled during an interview this past week. “It was a really big deal. And then Kyle did a great job to finish out the race.” 

That pit stop, an 11.8-second ode to choreographic perfection that took Larson from fourth to the lead, will go down as one of the most important in Hendrick Motorsports history. And despite a hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. pressuring from behind, Larson took advantage of his newly found clean air and guided the car to victory lane with the setting Arizona sun and streaming tears blurring his vision. 

"There was so many points in this race where I did not think we were going to win," Larson said after the race. "And without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing right here. They're the true winners of this race. They're true champions. I'm just blessed to be a part of this group." 

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The win gave Hendrick Motorsports back-to-back championships after Chase Elliott won his first in 2020. Elliott, who was also championship eligible in 2021 alongside Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, finished fifth. 

To start the 2021 season, however, a championship for Larson seemed optimistic at best. After all, Larson had been out of NASCAR for the better part of a year and even after being given an opportunity and a fresh start by Rick Hendrick, the new team had to gel and find its footing. 

That process seemingly happened quickly as Larson went to victory lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the season's fourth race. And that only served as a warning shot for what was to come, with the No. 5 team going on to win 10 races, capped by the championship event, and Larson's 2,581 laps led still stand as the most in a season in his career. 

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But that same playoff format that produces excitement also produces doubt and no matter what Larson had done heading into Phoenix, not even winning three of the previous four races, did much to comfort Daniels as he grinded over possible scenarios all week. 

“When we crossed the finish line in Phoenix, I remember thinking more relief than anything else because to have led the laps we did, had the near-wins, had the wins, you know you really are the champion of the year but the way our format is, you can still go to Phoenix and not be crowned champion even with a dominant season,” Daniels said.

Those "near-wins" were as big a part of the 2021 season as were the wins heading into the 2021 finale. Sure, the team had visited victory lane a Cup Series-leading nine times. But on six other occasions that season, Larson had led the most laps and failed to win the race. In addition to the victories, the No. 5 team was the runner-up in six events.

There were heartbreakers at Kansas Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway.

"I was really concerned going into Phoenix that weekend – kind of the, ‘what if’ for the team if we didn’t cap it off that way,” Daniels admitted.  

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Each and every one of those close calls may very well of been playing through the minds of Daniels, Larson and the team as the 2021 championship race entered the final 100 laps. That was especially true as a long run began to take its toll on the No. 5 car. Elliott took the lead from Larson, then Hamlin got past with 68 laps to go. 

That's when Truex Jr. and the No. 19 team rolled the dice from fourth, bringing him down pit road with 66 laps remaining. As he pitted, Anthony Alfredo slammed into the inside wall and by coming out quick enough to remain on the lead lap, Truex was cycled to the lead as the rest of the field came down pit lane under yellow. 

Larson lost a spot on pit road during that exchange after a slight slip on the right rear and restarted fifth. He could advance no higher than fourth and was slowly bleeding time as laps ticked away. 

“We qualified on the pole, led a lot of laps, struggled midway through the race and we fell back,” Daniels recalled. “And when we fell back we were all wondering, ‘Are we really out of this? Is it really going to end this way?’"

But with 30 circuits remaining, David Starr blew a brake rotor on the front stretch and the yellow waved a final time for debris. It was the second chance the No. 5 pit crew needed. 

Larson came onto pit lane in fourth. He exited in first. And it was the kind of flip in track position that decides championships. 

Truex came out third, lining up on the outside row behind Larson. His crew made an adjustment to try and give the No. 19 car more short-run speed, an area that Larson and Elliott had shown the most strength throughout the race. 

As the green flag waved, Larson got a massive jump on Hamlin, who restarted on the bottom of the front row. Truex made quick work of the No. 11 car as well and with the adjustment, he rapidly reached the back bumper of Larson, even getting alongside briefly with 17 to go. 

However, Larson used the outside lane to power back past with momentum in the straightaway and then found grip in the PJ1 compound applied the high groove in the corners. Having settled in, Larson slowly pulled away and had enough margin to withstand one, final push from Truex as the field sprinted to the checkered flag. 

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As an emotional Larson climbed from his car, TV cameras caught the first exchange between driver and crew chief as Daniels embraced him. 

"I'm so proud of you. You are a champion," Daniels exclaimed. 

"No, we are champions," Larson responded. 

On that day, everyone on the No. 5 team became a champion. 

And it was a team effort.