CONCORD, N.C. -- For Rick Hendrick, it’s always an exciting moment when one of his four Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LEs cruises into victory lane after a long day of racing. However, Sunday’s win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was a little more personal.
Hendrick saw his flagship No. 5 Chevrolet take the checkered flag after driver Kyle Larson dominated the field throughout the day. The white, blue and red-accented HendrickCars.com scheme made its track debut Sunday in a subtle nod to Hendrick’s late son, Ricky Hendrick.
“My wife and I were watching. It was emotional. It was joy. It was so many things,” Hendrick said. “I love those colors. When we were going to be on the car, I mean, I wanted to run that paint scheme with that number. That meant a ton to me (Sunday) and to my family just to honor our son. I love the paint scheme, anyway. But Kyle made us proud.”
KYLE LARSON LAS VEGAS-WINNING MERCHANDISE AVAILABLE NOW
It only took Larson four races with Hendrick Motorsports to notch his first win, making him the fastest driver in the organization’s history to earn a victory. The win also was a first for Cliff Daniels as a crew chief.
“Kyle is so talented, to get in a car that he's never been in before, tracks he's seen but not in our stuff, I've just watched him over the years and I know how talented he is,” Hendrick said. “Cliff has a really good team. I didn't really expect for it to come this quick because I just thought it would take more time to gel. … Cliff is just a great young man. To win in the fourth race, especially when you don't have any practice, you just show up and race, it's really been awesome. I think they're going to have a lot of success together this year.”
Larson’s huge win comes just one week after William Byron took the checkered flag at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hendrick is hopeful the early-season success will translate throughout the year.
“I just feel like the chemistry is so good right now,” Hendrick said. “I don't know if I ever remember it being any better across the board with all four cars. Two cars sometimes, then one car winning them all. But now we've got a really good balance. Everybody's excited. I'm excited.”