Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, will be available to members of the media at the Watkins Glen International media center on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 11:30 a.m. local time.
INDY IN THE REARVIEW: At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Kyle Larson’s day began from the sixth spot. In stage one, the 31-year-old driver came home with a fifth-place finish. While entering turn 12 during the second stage, Larson locked up his tires and was forced to stop in the runoff area before continuing. The loss of track position moved the No. 5 entry back to the 10th spot at the close of stage two. In the final stage, crew chief Cliff Daniels brought his driver into the pits on lap 48 for four tires and fuel. With 18 laps remaining in the race and the full field cycled through green flag pit stops, Larson had moved up to the eighth position on track, which is where he finished. The result served as his 12th top-10 finish of the year and he is now fifth in the NASCAR Cup Series regular season driver points standings.
WINS AT WATKINS GLEN: Larson has won the last two Cup Series races at Watkins Glen International (2021 and 2022). The two races prior to that were won by teammate Chase Elliott (2018 and 2019). Larson, as well as Elliott, are the only two Cup Series drivers who currently hold a top-10 streak at Watkins Glen (four). If Larson wins this weekend, he will join NASCAR Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon (1997-1999) and Mark Martin (1993-1995) with three consecutive wins at the track located in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
SUCCESS IN NEW YORK: The 2021 Cup Series champion has a history of proven success at Watkins Glen. In eight starts, Larson has two wins, three top-five finishes and five top-10s. He has started inside the top six in seven of his eight races there and has completed 719 of his 720 laps attempted (99.9%). Among active Cup Series drivers, Larson ranks sixth for the best average finish at this track (10.50).
ON THE ROAD: Larson has four road course wins in the Cup Series: Sonoma Raceway (2021), the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (2021) and Watkins Glen (2021 and 2022). These victories place him in a tie for the third-most road course wins among active drivers. With triumphs on three different road courses, Larson is tied for second for the most different road courses with a win. He is also the third-highest contributing driver to road course victories at Hendrick Motorsports (26 wins), behind Gordon (nine) and Elliott (seven). On tracks of this style this season, the Elk Grove, California, native has earned the second-most points of all drivers (138). Larson also is in a three-way tie for the most consecutive top-10 finishes on road courses (three).
TEAM EFFORT: Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, has guided Larson to four wins on road courses. Daniels trails only fellow Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Alan Gustafson (seven wins) of the No. 9 team for victories on serpentine layouts among active team pit bosses. In addition, this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen is special to the No. 5 team’s race mechanic Thomas Heslink. This is the home track for the Clymer, New York, native, which is located approximately 185 miles away from Watkins Glen.
TWO LEFT: With two races remaining in the regular season, Larson has earned the No. 5 team a spot in the Cup Series playoffs for the third straight year. He has won two points-paying races (Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway) and the non-points-paying All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He has claimed a series-leading 10 top-five finishes as well as capturing 12 top-10s and three stage wins. Larson has led the third-most laps (624), run the fourth-most laps in the top five (2,133) and top 10 (3,428), holds the fourth-best average running position (12.25) and has the best average starting position (9.92) on the season.
FOUR TIRES FAST: The No. 5 HendrickCars.com pit crew ranks fifth on pit road for the best average four-tire pit stop time (11.228 seconds). The team's four-tire stop of 9.281 seconds on lap 93 in June's race at Nashville Superspeedway stands as the fourth-fastest four-tire stop of the season. The five-man 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 a knee injury.
EXTRACURRICULAR: In addition to his full-time Cup Series schedule, Larson often races on dirt during the week. On Tuesday, Larson competed in the High Limit Sprint Car Series’ event at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, South Dakota, and finished sixth. The High Limit Series was co-founded by Larson and his brother-in-law Brad Sweet and the 2023 campaign marks its inaugural season. Check out the full schedule here.
SHOP NOW: This weekend, the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team races “away” in Watkins Glen. However, you can pick up a new set of keys from any one of Hendrick Automotive Group’s 95 dealerships nationwide. Customers can also shop from the convenience of their home selecting 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.
Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on his history at Watkins Glen International: "From 2019 to 2021 with the old car (Gen 6), they had a great road course package. We (the No. 5 team) were really fast there at Watkins Glen (International). Chase (Elliott) and I have had really good cars the past few years. With the Next Gen, the car drove great from what I remember last year. I felt like Chase and I were fast in the field for sure. I hope it’s the same when we get back because it’s always fun when you’re fast."
Cliff Daniels, crew chief of the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, on the ins and outs of Watkins Glen: "We (the No. 5 team and Kyle Larson) certainly enjoy Watkins Glen (International) a lot. It’s been a good track to us. I think it’s one of those places that is really fast and flowy and Kyle is good at both. Kyle is really good at going fast and carrying a lot of speed. It’s definitely a rhythmic track. You can carry a lot of rhythm with the layout of the track and all the corners. So, I think Kyle has a good knack for it and fortunately we have a solid notebook at this place here at Hendrick Motorsports. It's taken years to build that notebook and we’ve been able to continue to build on the good runs that we’ve had. We just kind of keep chipping away and get better every time. We’ll certainly have to level up ourselves to stay up with the competition this time and that’s where our focus is. We hope to call and execute a good race, give Kyle a good car and hopefully we will be in good shape."
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