RICHMOND REPEAT: On Sunday, Kyle Larson will seek his second Richmond Raceway win of 2023 after going to victory lane there in April. The 30-year-old driver has earned two wins, four top-five finishes and eight top-10s in 17 NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Virginia short track. Over the last three Richmond races, Larson has posted the second-most laps run inside the top five (622) behind only teammate William Byron (648). He is also one of only five drivers to lead at least 100 laps at the 0.75-mile venue since the start of 2022.
SHORT-TRACK SUCCESS: In 2023, Larson has won every Cup Series race held on a pavement short track: the points-paying events at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway and the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The last driver to win three straight paved short-track races was Rusty Wallace in 1993. In Larson’s first 38 (of 48 total) short-track starts, he earned one pole position, one win and six top-five finishes. In his most-recent 10 races, he has posted two poles, three victories and six top-fives on short tracks.
UP FRONT: Larson, the 2021 Cup champion, has earned two wins and a series-best nine top-five finishes this season. After taking the second stage at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, he now has 45 career stage wins, which is third-most amongst all Cup drivers. Larson has led 622 laps in 2023, good for third-best in the series behind Byron (810) and Martin Truex Jr. (763). This year, he ranks fourth in both laps run in the top five (2,078) and laps run in the top 10 (3,280).
FOUR TIRES FAST: After 21 points-paying races in 2023, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew stands third in the Cup Series in average four-tire pit stop time (11.110 seconds). The team's 9.281-second performance on lap 93 in last month's race at Nashville Superspeedway ranks as the second-fastest four-tire stop in the series this season. The No. 5's pit crew consists of Blaine Anderson (front-tire changer), R.J. Barnette (tire carrier), Brandon Harder (fueler), Brandon Johnson (jackman) and Calvin Teague (rear-tire changer). Rod Cox is currently filling in for Teague, who is week-to-week as he rehabs an injury.
BIRTHDAY RACE: Larson, who hails from Elk Grove, California, will turn 31 years old on Monday, July 31, following the race at Richmond.
EXTRACURRICULAR: In addition to his full-time Cup Series schedule, Larson often races dirt during the week. On Wednesday night, he finished second in a rescheduled High Limit Racing Sprint Car Series event at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania. He posted a heat race win and dash victory before leading the opening 18 laps of the main event.
HENDRICKCARS.COM IS HOME: Larson and the No. 5 crew will wear their white "home" fire suits this weekend at Richmond for the 10th home race for the HendrickCars.com team in 2023. Every HendrickCars.com home race this season (15 total) will feature a unique hat released the week of the event and exclusively available for purchase at trackside merchandise haulers or to win on HendrickCars.com. Less than 100 of each limited-edition hat will be made available. Check out this weekend’s Richmond hat here. The No. 5 team celebrates home races in markets where Hendrick Automotive Group car dealerships are located.
THE (CAR) CAPITOL: The River City is also a car town. The Richmond, Virginia, market is home to Hendrick Automotive Group dealership Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Buick GMC Richmond. Not located in Richmond? Customers can pick from any of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 95 dealerships nationwide and shop from the convenience of their home by visiting HendrickCars.com. The website offers searches by category, make, model and vehicle packages from the nearly 30,000 new, high-quality pre-owned and certified cars, trucks and SUVs.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his short-track success in 2023: "All of our wins this year have been on short tracks: Richmond, Martinsville and North Wilkesboro. We were good at Loudon, even compared to our teammates. Honestly, we have been pretty good everywhere this year. Especially early on in the year, we were really good on 1.5-mile tracks, intermediate tracks and superspeedways even. I’ve been up front, but crash or whatever. I’m excited about going to Richmond this weekend and going back to a track that we won at earlier this year. As the season progresses, setups change and the weather is going to be different than it was earlier this year. It’s not going to be the same, but I’m confident because we have been good on all the short tracks."
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on competing at Richmond Raceway: "We are planning to try to respect the track as much as we possibly can. This place is so difficult. We were very fortunate to have a great race car and race overall in the spring. It’s certainly been a tough place for us in the past and we know that so we are trying to have a healthy amount of respect to make sure we do the right things and study ourselves right. We won’t rest on our laurels of a great race in the spring or be lazy about our approach. We will certainly look at everything that we can or need to from the spring race and make any adjustments that we see needed. Kyle was pretty happy with the car, but we can always be better. Hopefully we can execute a very solid race and be in the top 10 by the end of it and have a shot (to win)."
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