LAS VEGAS – Kyle Larson has a familiar feeling when it comes to the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team. His victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway has propelled the group to be part of the Championship 4 for the second time in three seasons. Larson won the championship in 2021 – his first season at Hendrick Motorsports – and he can’t help but feel the similarities between that year and this year.
"Sheer speed and stuff, I feel like we've been very similar to where we were in 2021," Larson said after his fourth win of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at Las Vegas. "We've probably contended for as many wins as we did then. These Next Gen races are tougher to win.
"I've said that all along since the beginning of the year that this feels very similar to 2021. Thankfully, we're in position like we were in 2021. Hopefully, we can cap it off like we did then, too."
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For crew chief Cliff Daniels, he sees a team that has been battle-tested in its three years together. From their 10-win championship season in 2021 to the disappointment of an early exit in the 2022 playoffs to today where the group has fought past a season full of peaks and valleys to make the title round.
"As a team, we are significantly stronger," Daniels said. "We’ve had two more years to gel together and to work together. The chemistry has only gotten stronger because of what we’ve been through this year with the up-and-down finishes. Let’s be honest, some of those up-and-down finishes we created, both the good and the bad.
"It’s a really good team growth exercise to go through some of the tough times and learn how to communicate and lean on each other. Find the core strength that you need to come out on the backside of a weekend, where maybe we screwed up or didn’t get the result that we needed.
"I think the two years under our belt mixed with such a volatile season that we’ve had; we’ve had to learn how to play tough and be resilient. I think our team is in a very, very strong position right now."
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Another similarity between this year and the 2021 group is on pit road. The team’s clutch work on pit road put Larson in position to win the championship in 2021. In that year’s title race, he pitted under yellow from fourth with under 30 laps left in the race and came out with the lead – a position he would not relinquish in the closing 25-lap run.
In Sunday’s race in Las Vegas, with a Championship 4 spot on the line, the crew of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer) turned it some of their finest work. On lap 212, Larson came into the pits under yellow from the third position and after a 9.54-second stop (the team’s fastest of the day per Racing Insights), they came out with the lead. Larson led 53 of the final 54 laps to earn the victory.
"I look forward to coming down pit road. I have got a ton of confidence in my guys. They showed today why they're one of the best on pit road," Larson said. "Hendrick Motorsports as a whole, all four teams, even the development teams, all do a great job. That's a huge thank you to the coaching staff and everybody there in the pit department."
The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew entered Sunday’s race with the third-fastest average pit stop time for four-tire stops at 11.137 seconds. Their average in the Round of 8 opener was a fast 10.105 seconds.
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"There’s a lot of really good, talented, fast teams on pit road but the experience our guys have, how hard we push ourselves. We set our standard very high. We set our expectations very high," Daniels said.
"If we don’t have a race that’s great on pit road, we go back and we talk about it. We beat each other up a bit and try to learn what we need to do to improve.
"…Nobody rests on the wins of the past or the experience of the past. Those guys are always striving to get better. So it makes it a great combination on the money stop when you mix together that endeavor to continue to improve plus the experience they have. They know how to have ice water in their veins and just get it done."
With the win, Larson and Daniels now have 16 victories together. This is the highest total in the sport since the duo was first paired together ahead of the 2021 season. Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon loves what he has seen out of the combination.
"You take a guy like Kyle (Larson) and his capabilities and his talent. He’s impressed me with his work ethic, too," Gordon said. "I wasn’t sure how he approached the (NASCAR) Cup Series, especially with (crew chief) Cliff (Daniels) and all the data, all the homework that Cliff gives him and the meetings they have. Cliff is an intense guy and he brings a lot to the table. It’s a lot of information that you have to absorb.
"He stepped up to the plate and has done everything that the organization can possibly ask out of him and then some. It’s been a great relationship."